Transporting a Giant Art sculpture

[Viridian Diamond]

Hello burners,

I have a question, if this isn't the correct board to post on I am truly sorry. I can move it to a different art board if necessary, but I have a serious question.

On the topic of art, we are talking about a like a 700 lb. metal sculpture. Let's just say 10-20 feet tall and around. Huge. What would be a feasible way to transport that hallway across the country, (27 hour drive, 2,000 miles)

Nothing has been built yet, still in planning stages, still in the 'is this even a feasible thing or am I insane stage"


It would need to be an open trailer attached to an SUV or truck, but using a trailer today to pick up sheets of metal for a different project, I was moldy nervous, and then it dawned on me about the anxiety of taking a questionable trailer on a 2-3 day highway drive across the country with precious cargo...


Does anyone have any advice, or know of artists who have done this journey to Burning Man or any other similar festival? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CyanEssence]

You could design the project to be mobile by building pieces that fit together once on the playa, each piece being an appropriate size for the vehicle you plan on using to transport it.

You could also look into renting a flatbed trailer. Unless you, or someone you know, has the appropriate license for one of these, you may have to hire someone to haul it for you.

Can you give us some details about the project? I'm curious now.

[BBadger]

That weight isn't too much, but that's a large area the sculpture consumes. Can you design your structure so that it can be decomposed into smaller pieces, preferably stack-able? It'll make the sculpture a lot easier to assemble and dismantle piece-wise too.

[The Rod]

700 lbs seems really light for a 10-20 foot tall and around metal scuplture...

+1 on designing it to be transported in sections/pieces.

If it has to be trailered and you are uncomfortable towing, you're going to need someone else to do the driving. If you don't know anyone who can haul it for you, you can hire a pro. I have heard of Uship being used for playa projects and I have used it before for non-BM shipments.

[Captain Goddammit]

2000 miles is not a 27 hour drive. It's much more, you'd have to average 74 MPH including stops which means you'd have to be dong 90 or 100. I just drove 1300 miles with a semi truck full of show horses that had to spend as little time in the trailer as possible and that took 25 hours making stops for absolutely nothing other than a few quick hay & water stops, keeping the truck at or above the speed limit at all other times with two drivers. I doubt you'll beat or even match our overall average of 52 MPH.

I work with metal a lot and I also think your weight estimate is way too low. Metal gets real heavy real quick. If it's 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide, I'd think it's gonna weigh ten times your estimate.

You're going to have to build your project so that it fits within 8 feet wide, either by scaling it back a bit or making it in sections that you assemble on site. Otherwise you will need a ton of wide load permits and have a LOT of hassles transporting it that far. You'll have to have wide load signage, you'll be restricted to certain routes and certain times you're allowed to drive, etc. It's not worth it. Make the thing so it can go down the road 8 feet wide.

You don't need any special license to pull a flatbed trailer unless the licensed total gross weight rating is over 26,000 pounds. A 16 - 20 foot flatbed behind an SUV isn't going to be that much.

So... you pretty much already gave the answer to how to do it, put it on a flatbed trailer.
But keep it under 8 feet while driving, however you can.

[Captain Goddammit]

Oh, and build it so you can have it knocked down to less than 14 feet high on the trailer, or you'll really have trouble transporting it!
My flatbed trailer deck is 18" off the ground, about 12 feet would be the very tallest load I'd put on it.

[Ed Banks]

I trailered my mutant vehicle over 5000 miles round trip this past year on a 18' utility trailer. Fully deployed, it's 2 stories tall and 18' wide. As others have suggested make it modular, I spent 3 months working in CAD before I struck an arc on my welder.

Before I left, I made sure my trailers brakes were in tip top shape, you'll need them in the mountains. I also replaced all bearings with new plus fresh grease and also replaced the nylon bushings in the leaf springs and equalizers. At minimum, tires, brakes and bearings would need inspection before taking a suspect trailer on a trip such as this.

[Elliot]

I drove 18-wheelers for 27 years, and I can tell you... Listen to the Goddamn Captain!

[chiefdanfox]

I've hauled a few things out there. If you are using a "normal" flatbed pulled by a tractor trailer, you are restricted to <8' wide by <8.5' tall. If you can find a low boy (hard) you can add two feet to that on the top. Keep in mind, 8' wide is the width ratchet to ratchet. Last project I did had pieces 7'8" max. Buildout width was ~24' wide, 50' tall, 35' long. 8 feet is your target width, no bullshit. Going wider is probably the best way to make sure your project will not make it. (without huge pieces randomly ground off en-route). Smoky don't like stuff wider than 8'.

[ygmir]

IIRC, max width is 102".

[Elliot]

IIRC, max width is 102".

Correct. 102" = 8 1/2 feet. The increase was made in the 1980s, I seem to recall.

But as the Chief points out, that's "ratchet to ratchet" -- they no longer allow tie-down hardware to protrude beyond the 102". (In the old days they allowed strap winches and chain binders to stick out, because they were "safety equipment" -- kind'a like rear view mirrors may stick out. No more.)

[some seeing eye]

You might suscribe to some art email lists at https://lists.burningman.com/. Some will be active and some dead. Same FB groups and Spark - a resource sharing website I cannot find because somebody named their documentary with it.

If you are bringing sculpture materials, hauling a container with other regional participants' stuff packed in could offset costs.

Or you could build it in Reno, Sac or East Bay. There is a lot to the art process, including insurance and crane service to research. Good luck!

[AntiM]

Freeway overpasses are generally 14 feet, so a 20 foot tall structure won't make it. Not unless you want to be a youtube hero.

[mooserider]

I don't know what the name of this sculpture was, but it was in line in front of me at the commercial tire place in Sparks, loaded on a tractor-dual-flatbed-trailer rig (don't know which tire they had to have fixed, but they probably drove over some jerk's abandoned tent stake or rebar like I did during exodus).

[Viridian Diamond]

Thank you all for really helpful replies/tips/advice. You all have given me a lot to think about. Especially with the stacking of pieces, we have been talking about that too and figuring out how to make that work. On that note, I am not the welder, I am the 2d designer and I grind down metal at the shop, I am not very metal savvy. So Im sure my weight limit is off. On that note, looking at the plans again, I think it will be 6-10 feet tall and 10 feet wide. The Merkabah alone is 5 feet tall. The base is going to have to be solid, and 5 feet, if not taller, and wider to support the metal on top of it. I was thinking the lotus could be a separate piece, and the cattails surrounding it are all their own pieces (ignore the trees). Again, these are ballpark estimates, we haven't made blueprints yet, just a concept design and even that size seems really big to me. I just wanted to throw out a big number like 10-20 feet because I thought it would be better to go over than under when asking for advice. Sorry for the confusion.

[BBadger]

You can build a solid frame out of something like steel tubing welded or bolted together (or bolt together welded pieces), and then dress lighter weight panels and other parts to the remainder of it. That lotus for example could be decomposed into lighter weight individual petals that are then attached to a central hub that provides the main support. That would ease in transportation as well as enable you to create the lotus out of copies of the same petal design. If you want to get really elaborate, you could even make the joints where the petals connect articulate, so that the petals can move.

If you're concerned about the structure not being solid enough, in addition to fixing the structure to the playa you can use some ballast of some sort to ensure that the structure remains solid when resting on the playa. You'll probably want to consult with other sculpture builders about how they designed their structures for ease of transportation.

[some seeing eye]

Yoy need to design for wind - https://www.washoecounty.us/building/Co ... ements.php.

[chiefdanfox]

Yoy need to design for wind - https://www.washoecounty.us/building/Co ... ements.php.

Trojan Horse, Anubis and the Alien Siege Machine were all designed for at least 125 MPH winds, which is important for the playa, but also for transportation.With good pre-event planning (make contact May-June), you can have the Artery in coordination with heavy equipment (HE) / placement sink some ground anchors (~3500 lbs of wind lift ). All of these project had people on them, so we designed for the American Tourister Ape (Drunk).

[media]

[Viridian Diamond]

The wind is a key factor I just realized I didn't put as much attention on as I should have when planning this. I think the plan is now to downsize, and make several more cardboard prototypes that play with the idea of disassembling it for ease of transportation, but will be solid enough for the winds. Again, Thank you everyone! This has been incredibly helpful.