Bridging West and East
18 December 2017Kirkenes, in the Norwegian fjords, is a mere 10km away from Russia. In order to facilitate trade between the neighbouring countries, the E105 highway is getting upgraded. Part of this project involved the installment of the Bøkfjord bridge, a 120m arched steel bridge connecting the two countries. Wagenborg was tasked with the transportation and installation.
The Bøkfjord bridge’s steel construction was produced in segments at the factory of Schachtbau Nordhausen Stahlbau in central Germany. These segments were transported by road to Wilhelmshaven, Germany, where final assemblage and welding took up several months.
In Wilhelmshaven, SPMTs were used to transport the Bøkfjord bridge from the construction site onto the 100m-long, 33m-wide Wagenborg Barge 8. The SPMT’s unique abilities makes them particularly suitable for this kind of heavy duty transport. To load the Bøkfjord bridge Wagenborg used two sets of 24 axle lines.
The SPMTs were rigged with specially designed supporting beams carrying the bridge. With the SPMTs, supporting beams, the bridge and the sea-fastenings, the load carried by Wagenborg Barge 8 amounted to 1,300t of steel.
After securing the seafasteners, the Wagenborg Barge 8 left Wilhemshaven early May by aid of tug boat MTS Vanquish to begin the journey to Kirkenes. “Under the preferred meteorological circumstances, the journey would take about 10 to 12 days. Halfway through our voyage we had to take shelter at the Lofoten Islands to by-pass bad weather conditions,” said director of Wagenborg Towage Marc Mazereeuw.
Mid-May, the transport arrived safely at Kirkenes where the pontoon docked at the quay. The sea-fastening was removed and replaced with river-fastening for further transportation along the Pasvik river. Jacks were used to level the bridge in preparation of installation at the Bøkfjords.
Assembling the bridge was divided into two stages that were both executed when the tide was in. The Wagenborg Barge 8 was taken fi ve miles up the Pasvik river towards Elvenes where the pontoon docked at the installation site. Noting that the Pasvik river is subject to current and tidal motion, the client worked with Wagenborg to have the Barge 8 outfi tted with special anchors. The pontoon was positioned between the pillar and just before the tide came in the bridge was rotated 90° by the SPMTs, all while still residing on the pontoon. Subsequently Wagenborg used an eight-point mooring system to refi ne the pontoon’s position. The bridge was then lowered into place, by ballasting the pontoon and using the outgoing tide.
The new Bøkfjord bridge was cleared for traffic in the autumn of 2017 and is now in service.
