my Fox Atlanta
Darryl Carver
Updated: Sunday, 10 Apr 2011, 12:29 AM EDT
Published : Saturday, 09 Apr 2011, 4:00 PM EDT
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ATLANTA, Ga. - A flight that took off from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Saturday morning is transporting some much needed help for a nuclear power plant heavily damaged in Japan's massive 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. The flight carried one of two Putzmeister concrete pumpers being sent to handle the problems at the Fukushima power facility near the quake zone.
A spokesperson with the Wisconsin-based heavy equipment manufacturer Putzmeister says the 190,000-pound truck is built to pump concrete but can also serve another use at the plant, pumping water into components in the facility that need to be cooled. Company CEO Dave Adams says the device can pump three times as much water as a fire truck.
The pumper can be operated remotely from as much as two miles away and with a boom that can reach over 227 feet, nearly the length of an entire football field, it can pump water into tight areas. Adams says by shipping this pumper out of Atlanta and another out of Los Angeles, he hopes the company can plan a part in getting the crisi under control.
"Our whole company feels hopeful that our equipment can be used to make a difference by helping to solve the problem at the nuclear reactor site," says Adams.
The device was loaded onto an AN-124 cargo plane earlier in the week, before its departure at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport spokesman Warren Jones says the Russian made jet is the largest ever to take off from the Atlanta airport and among the largest planes in the world.
The flight is expected to take about two days with refueling stops, and then another week will be spent training plant workers how to use the pump. It is not expected to be put into action attempting to cool the facility for another two weeks.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/plane-carries-pumper-to-japan-20110409-es
Other article : http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/huge-us-pumps-heading-to-japan/story-fn6s850w-1226036660615