Visline Special Operation: How Do You Fit a 200-Meter Bridge onto Trucks? [case study]

This was the challenge faced by the Visline ferry crossing department, entrusted by a client with an engineering transport project from Poland to Norway. Designing such a service resembles a military operation straight out of a Hollywood movie, where absolutely everything must work together at precisely the right moment.

“Logistics is not everything, but without logistics, everything is nothing” – a phrase once spoken by one of the American generals perfectly illustrates the close relationship between business and well-organized supply chain processes. This is exactly where Visline’s special forces stepped in, tasked with preparing the ferry crossings.

Mission 1 – Loading the Equipment

The first task involved the proper division of the cargo and assigning individual bridge elements to specific trucks. Specialized transport sets were deployed, ready to handle oversized cargo measuring 20–30 meters in length and up to 6 meters in width.

Mission 2 – Reconnaissance Mission

The final convoy consisted of 10 vehicles and was permitted to travel only at night. This type of transport requires a specially designated route that takes into account all restrictions for oversized vehicles. Key considerations included roundabouts, road narrowings and capacity limits, bridge and tunnel clearances, as well as weight restrictions.

A literal reconnaissance mission was carried out to plan the route, during which escort pilots personally inspected the entire journey. This required close cooperation with partners responsible for individual aspects of the mission – the client, the carrier, and the shipowner.

Mission 3 – Special Permits

Oversized transport is not a James Bond operation where rules can simply be ignored – that only happens in movies. The freight planned on the Poland-Norway route originally included unloading at the port of Larvik, which required obtaining numerous approvals.

The first major challenge was securing permission for a non-standard 180-degree ferry turnaround in the port. This was essential in order to unload the specialized cargo.

The ferry itself is extremely long, making the maneuver time-consuming and therefore costly. The client approved the solution and the special permit was obtained quickly, but…

…suddenly a completely different issue emerged. The Larvik operation was disrupted by a negative decision from the Norwegian authorities, who denied permission for road transport from Larvik to Oslo. A different approach was required.

Mission 4 – Tactical Retreat and Regrouping

This unexpected turn of events forced the implementation of Plan B – reorganizing the ferry crossings so the cargo would be delivered directly to Oslo instead of Larvik.

The task was highly complex, involving the coordination of ferry crossings and transshipments, but ultimately the following route was established:
Świnoujście – Trelleborg – Copenhagen – Oslo.

The trucks had to arrive at every stage of the route down to the exact minute. And it was not only about racing against time to catch the ferries. On one section, between Trelleborg and Copenhagen, the convoy had to cross the Øresund Bridge, which had to be completely closed to all other traffic during the special transport operation and could only be crossed at night.

Any delay carried the risk of serious additional costs. In the end, everything ran like clockwork.

Mission 5 – Support from the Water

Preparing the final stage of the mission was the responsibility of our ferry crossing specialists. The challenge here was to find the right connection for the last section of the route between Copenhagen and Oslo.

This is relatively simple when transporting standard vehicles, but oversized cargo comes with a completely different set of requirements. The final choice was the shipowner Go Nordic Cruiseline, which efficiently helped deliver all 10 bridge elements to their destination.

Visline efficiently organized the ferry crossings and designated alternative ports, adapting the transport possibilities to changing conditions.

Need to transport your bridge? Or perhaps you have other logistics challenges?