In order to bring this massive Boeing 737 to its present location in Uluwatu, Bali, great effort was made to transport it piece by piece. After consulting with the Boeing team, the whole plane was taken apart. 50,000 bolts were loosened! And a search all over Indonesia was done for suitable transportation equipment big enough to transport all the parts because none was available in Bali.
It took a substantial sixteen-meter platform, two cranes (25 tons and 50 tons with a 60-meter boom), and a team of 20 people working day and night for 2 months on the planning of the transportation process and its coordination. The transportation took 5 days or sleepless nights since it was carried out mainly at night.
The convoy of transportation was accompanied by the police all the way. The average speed of the vehicles transporting the elements was 1 km/h. Because Bali has very narrow roads and a lot of wires that hang pretty low, a group of people used special equipment to raise the cables higher so that the plane would not touch them during transportation. Therefore, the transport moved at a speed equal to the rate at which these people ran and raised the wires. But that wasn’t the only problem! The massive sixteen-meter transport couldn’t fit into the turns. Moreover, some statues were damaged along the route, and permission was granted to re-erect and restore them.
On top of all, 600 m of the road was made where there was none so the plane could be delivered to the final place. The subsequent assembly of the aircraft was no less challenging. The whole process looked like assembling a colossal construction: several cranes were involved that lifted each element, and specialists assembled them in a suspended state. And now here it is standing proudly over the Uluwatu cliffs and ready for the first lucky guests to have an “Experience of a Lifetime.” For more information please click HERE.
