Liebherr mobile cranes complete bridge dismantling job

17 March 2017 by Sotiris Kanaris

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Two Liebherr LTM 1300-6.2 were used to remove three pre-stressed concrete supports during bridge dismantling near Osnabrück, Germany.

The cranes were provided by Sommer-Kranverleih from Bremen and Autokrane-Spallek from Ibbenbüren.

The demolition team had just two nights to remove the massive pre-stressed concrete supports. A Liebherr mobile crane was positioned on both sides of the railway track around eight metres below the bridge. The cranes' attachment equipment was secured to each half of the 80t concrete supports before the supports were then sawn through in the centre and at the abutments.

It took around four hours for the diamond-tipped wall saw to cut through the concrete supports, which measured around two metres in height.

The crane drivers then had to work with great precision because they had to make sure that the freely suspended sections of the support, measuring around 15m in length, did not tilt. The two 300t cranes managed the load of around 42t with a radius of around 15m.

Below-zero temperatures and at times extremely thick fog made work on the site difficult and uncomfortable. During the first night, the team only managed to remove one of the supports rather than the two that they had hoped for. On the following night, however, the two remaining concrete supports had been removed by the morning and rail traffic could be restarted as planned.

The two crane contractors, Sommer-Kranverleih and Autokrane-Spallek, worked together for the first time on this site.