Friderici News | Dismantling the Tamoil refinery: a logistical challenge successfully completed

30 April 2025

Dismantling the Tamoil refinery: a logistical challenge successfully completed

As part of the dismantling of the Tamoil refinery in Collombey (VS), we had the privilege of providing our customer and partner, 7WL, with all our logistical expertise to bring a major project to a successful conclusion.

A complex project, spread over several years, which mobilized numerous human and technical resources, and required constant coordination.

10,000 tonnes moved, 550 road convoys

Between September 23, 2021, the date of the first transport, and November 1, 2024, more than 10,000 tonnes of industrial equipment — pipes, tanks, reactors, distillation columns — were transferred from Collombey to the port of Basel.

All 550 road transports were fully organized and planned by our engineering office, in close collaboration with our partners and the cantonal, municipal, and federal authorities.

Some lots, consisting of more than 30 pieces to be evacuated simultaneously, required the temporary support of fellow transporters to ensure just-in-time evacuation, avoiding any slowdown on site and on the roads. Rigorous coordination between the various companies involved was crucial to ensure the smooth running of operations.

2024: a year marked by exceptional convoys

In 2024, our teams faced several major logistical challenges involving oversized transports with high technical requirements.

The last convoy, delivered in November to the port of Basel to our partner Ultra Brag AG, is a good example. It involved a piece 29.3 m long, 4.2 m wide, and 3.7 m high, weighing 163 tonnes.

The entire convoy reached over 60 meters in length, peaked at 4.95 meters in height, and had a total weight of around 330 tonnes.

This operation adds to other notable transports carried out this year:

The evacuation of industrial pipes over 7 meters wide, cut into several segments and transported in just two weeks thanks to the deployment of five trucks.
The transport of three towers, each 28 meters long, 4 meters in diameter, and weighing 60 tonnes, over five consecutive nights. A complex route was required, passing through Évian, Geneva, and Lausanne to bypass size restrictions.

The multimodal transport of a reactor in two parts, 4.80 m in diameter and 5.90 m in height, combining several transport modes:

Truck from Collombey to Le Bouveret
River transfer via a Sagrave boat to the port of Vidy
Crane and truck transfer to the final destination in Basel

These operations demonstrate our teams’ ability to plan and execute complex exceptional transports, precisely integrating technical, geographical, and time constraints.

A collective success

This project, due to its duration, the diversity of equipment, and its technical challenges, stands as a concrete example of successful logistical coordination.

We would like to warmly thank our client 7WL, our partner Ultra Brag AG, as well as all the involved authorities: municipalities, cantons, OFROU, cantonal and municipal police forces.

Finally, a special thank you to all our employees who contributed, directly or indirectly, to making this project a success. Their commitment, expertise, and precision were essential at every stage.