The first stage was to load the bridge deck onto a barge, which transported it from Wondelgem to Antwerp, a distance of 60km. The arches were carried in pieces on top of the deck, in order to pass low bridges en route.
Once in Antwerp the bridge was offloaded onto a site near the final destination and the arches assembled and installed. Then the entire structure was re-loaded and transported by barge 2.5km to its final destination.
There, ALE’s Mega Jack 800 was used to jack up the deck by 8m, to give clearance over its abutments, and then lowered 3m into its final position.
“This was a challenging installation project” said Tom Van De Locht, project engineer. “By using our Mega Jack system operational time was reduced. It was easily integrated on site because of its small footprint and compatibility with our other services.”
The entire operation was completed within two weeks.
