Liebherr crane moves smaller partner
26 February 2019 by Sotiris KanarisA Liebherr LTM 1450-8.1 removed an LTM 1250-5.1 from bridge construction site on the A3 motorway to the south of Würzburg, Germany.
Würzburg crane contractor Gebr. Markewitsch positioned the Liebherr mobile crane on the old motorway bridge to move the construction machinery, material and containers off the bridge, most of which had already been dismantled, into the valley.
As a result of the advanced demolition work, however, there was no longer a route for the mobile crane to be driven off the site. Crane and transport contractor Weiland, from Lampertheim in the State of Hesse, was responsible for all the hoisting equipment for dismantling the structure and sent its new LTM 1450-8.1 mobile crane, to hoist the smaller mobile crane off the abutment.
Using a combination of three adjustable yokes, the five-axle crane, which tips the scale at around 60t, was attached to the outriggers and lowered safely from the semi-demolished bridge into the valley, a height of around 20m. The Weiland crane in its orange and white livery had 134t of ballast to counteract the load of 64.5t at a radius of 18m.
In addition to the 85m telescopic boom, the main features of the new mobile crane are its innovative VarioBallast and VarioBase. On this job on the viaduct, it was only possible to position the mobile crane so close to the bridge structure because the reduced ballast radius made it possible to have a very small radius of the boom without a load.
Weiland also engaged the services of a Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane for the extensive demolition work on the 660m motorway bridge. This machine, owned by Helling, based in Schwäbisch Gmünd, took the strand jacks from the bridge abutments and positioned them on the new bridge sections which had not yet been completed. These enormous hydraulic strand jacks were used to lower the road segments, some of which weighed over 2,000t, from the abutments, which are up to 60m high, to the ground.
The new viaduct near Würzburg is part of an infrastructure project which extends for a total of around 100km, whose objective is to widen the A3 between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg into a six-lane motorway. The work was started in 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in two years.
