From rail to road

Due to the demolition of a railway bridge in Linz and the resultant gap in the Mu¨hlkreisbahn railway network, it was necessary to transport an 80t locomotive by road.

The 19.7m-long, 2.9m-wide and 4.3m-high rail vehicle was required at Ottensheim station as a traction engine for a measurement carriage of the ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railway).

The diesel locomotive was tandem-lifted and loaded by a 350t and a 160t telescopic crane, requiring perfect coordination by the two well-practised Prangl crane operators.

The rail behemoth was ultimately transported by a four-axle heavy haulage tractor unit and a nine-axle semi-low-loader. This resulted in transport dimensions of 28.5m long and 5.5m wide. The entire transport rig weighed in at 133.2t.

To make sure that the load was perfectly secured, a transportation device was specially fabricated and fastened to the trailer. Using this device, it will also be possible to transport ÖBB narrow-gauge tracks by road in the future.

In addition to these technical preparations, it was also essential to perform a careful route survey. This highlighted a number of roundabouts and traffic light sets that would need to be approached extremely precisely. As a result of the detailed pre-planning and the qualified experts from Prangl, a number of costly traffic measures could be avoided.

Once at the destination station, the locomotive was unloaded by the same two telescopic cranes. After completing the ÖBB route survey, the traction engine was transported back the same way.