Cometto vehicles for German bridge move

28 years after Schares purchased its first Faymonville two-axle lowbed trailer this project was its introduction to self-propelled transport again with the assistance of Faymonville.

The first six out of a total of eleven bridge elements were moved by Schares in a night-time operation. To lift them the company deployed two six-axle self-propelled vehicles, electronically-coupled in side-by-side configuration, with a total payload capacity of 520t. A remote-control with 4.3in screen is all that is required to manoeuvre this combination.

Lifting the 14m long bridge elements by crane was not possible as it would have required the costly dismantling of electrical overhead lines by Deutsche Bahn at huge cost.

The Cometto Eco1000 advanced in a lowered position under the bridge ready to lift. Excavator mattresses and load bearing blocks were mounted on the side-by-side self-propelled vehicle to compensate for the height of the bridge. The hydraulic bogies then lifted two bridge sections at a time from the bridge bearings. The manoeuvre was repeated three times. “This was the moment for the Cometto Eco1000 to show off its 700 mm axle stroke,” said Faymonville.

The bridge elements were then carried 30m to a mobile crane, which loaded them onto a flatbed trailer.

"The self-propelled horizontal transport technology from Cometto will complement our cranes on our building sites in the future, enabling us to offer our customers real added value and above all, everything from a single source," said Christoph Schares.