large for an aircraft, reached the same desti- 

 nation from Miami, Florida aboard an LSD. 

 AUGUSTE PICCARD's trip aboard a flatbed 

 trailer from Lausanne, Switzerland to Mar- 

 seilles, France involved intricate scheduling 

 and the cooperation and participation of po- 

 lice and local civil officials as the 93-foot 

 submersible carefully M^ound its way through 

 the ancient, narrow streets of southern 

 France. Obviously, the larger the submers- 

 ible, the larger the problem, and time is of 

 the essence, because the user of the sub- 

 mersible pays for mobilization as well as 

 diving costs. 



Land 



Transportation of a submersible by land is 

 not too different from transporting any ob- 

 ject of comparable size and weight. Load and 

 dimension regulations apply the same as 

 they do with conventional cargo, whether it 

 be by trailer, flatbed van or rail. One unique 

 aspect, however, resides with some vehicles' 



more delicate instruments, which vibration 

 may damage or, at the least, loosen nuts and 

 bolts. Tests performed by the Association of 

 American Railroads and a summary of accu- 

 mulated data relative to loading conditions 

 that exist in a variety of transportation con- 

 ditions indicate the greatest loading factor to 

 be 2.25 g vertical. When ALVIN was shipped 

 by flatbed trailer (Fig. 12.1) from Minneapo- 

 lis, Minn, to Cape Cod, Mass., shock-measur- 

 ing instruments were attached and found 

 the loads to be less than those shocks (1.2 g) 

 encountered during routine launch/retrieval 

 aboard LULU. Regardless of the method or 

 rigors of transport, it is a practice of the 

 ALVIN group and others to recheck and 

 tighten all nuts and bolts prior to diving. 

 When load and dimensions allow, trucks or 

 trailers incorporating air-ride suspension 

 systems are used. Obviously, in the case of 

 large submersibles, such as BEN FRANK- 

 LIN, a route must be selected which will 

 avoid bridges under which the vehicle cannot 

 physically pass. 



Fig 12 1 ALVIN ready to ake to the road, (WHOI) 



578 



