It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration if you were to call it the slowest motorised vehicle on Indian roads in the past one year.

A heavy-duty tractor trailer transporting a 70-tonne industrial autoclave for the Composites Entity (CMSE) of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Vattiyurkavu finally entered the capital city on Saturday.

This is the last leg of an epic journey for the rig which left Ambarnath, Maharashtra, in September last year. It is expected to end its assignment at the VSSC’s Vattiyurkavu campus on Sunday.

The massive size of the trailer and the sheer weight of its gigantic cargo meant that for much of its interesting journey across four States, the vehicle proceeded at an unhurried pace of about 5 km per day. In many places along the route, tree branches had to be trimmed and overhead electric lines shifted so that it could pass unhindered.

Its purpose

Industrial autoclaves are pressurised vessels used in the manufacture of advanced composites, notably for the aerospace industry. In ISRO’s case, this piece of cylindrical machinery would enable easier and cost-effective manufacture of very large and light-weight structures needed to launch vehicles and satellites, a VSSC official said.

The autoclave, which has a diameter of five metres and length of six metres, was manufactured by Unique Chemoplant Equipments, Nasik, at its Ambarnath factory and costs ₹9 crore, including transportation charges. The VSSC does have autoclaves, but none this large.

Time for installation

On Saturday, the massive vehicle passed through Karamana and Killipalam and reached Museum. Once it reaches Vattiyurkavu, it would take another three months before it is installed, integrated with the electrical systems and controls and commissioned.