Future Forwarding Co has completed the transport of one of the UK’s largest water slide structures to Cliff Lakes in Warwickshire, following a complex oversized freight operation involving five flatbed trailers and coordinated cross-border movements from France.
The project, commissioned by Kingsbury Watersport, involved moving the X-Tower Slide from Fontenay-le-Comte in western France to the Cliff Lakes site near Tamworth.
Once assembled, the fibreglass slide and galvanised steel support structure will stand around 12 metres high, occupy a footprint of almost 30m x 30m and weigh more than 20 tonnes.
Future Forwarding said the project required detailed planning due to the size and nature of the loads, with several consignments classified as out-of-gauge.
The operation began with five separate crane-loading procedures in France, where fibreglass slide sections, steel supports and installation components including brackets, bolts and sealing materials were loaded onto flatbed trailers in staggered phases.
The loads then travelled via Calais and Dover before continuing to the UK destination.
Future Forwarding said the entire transport operation was completed within a four-day transit window despite the permitting and routing requirements associated with oversized cargo.
Delivery scheduling formed a key part of the project because the specialist installation team had a limited construction window on site.
All five vehicles arrived at staggered times to allow immediate crane offloading and direct progression into the installation phase.
The company said handling large but fragile fibreglass components required close coordination throughout the operation, with communication maintained between the logistics provider, suppliers and the customer to ensure the project remained on schedule.
Future Forwarding added that oversized load restrictions, permit requirements and the transport of heavy structural elements created operational challenges throughout the move.
The attraction has now been installed at Cliff Lakes Aqua Park and is due to open to the public on 23 May.
Future Forwarding said the project demonstrated its capability in handling complex oversized freight operations across Europe.
