Rail bridge moved into position in Luxembourg

Luxembourg railroad company CFL commissioned heavy lifting specialist Sarens to complete an im-portant step in its infrastructure expansion programme by moving one of the largest bow-string railroad bridges in Europe into position over a motorway.

The bridge, measuring 200 metres long, 40 metres high, 18.5 metres wide and weighing  5,850 tonnes was moved into position over a six-lane motorway, between the Bettem-bourg and Gasperich interchanges in Luxembourg.

The bridge had been built on site since 2020 and it comprises tying cords, a deck and two double arches.

To move the bridge into position hydraulic presses were utilised to gradually raise and align the structure to a height of five metres, to the level of the bridge bear-ings, using a ‘pack & jack’ method.

Sarens then used a total of 180 SPMT axle lines from Cometto, linked together as a 5x18 axle line combination at either end of the bridge.

Sarens put together the vehicle combination in advance and meticulously prepared the procedure which involved closing the motorway.

The move began shortly after midnight and it took around two hours to set the bridge on its final supports. The spectacle attracted scores of observers.

According to Faymonville the SPMTs’ electronic steering and stroke enabled the bridge to be moved into position safely with millimetre precision and also compen-sated for bumps in the ground. The LED lighting on the modules further aided the operator during the night move, Faymonville said.

"This bridge is one of eight structures that will be built as part of the new railroad line between Luxembourg City and Bettembourg," says project manager Rui Raimundo. "The new project is part of CFL's expansion and modernisation pro-gram. Alongside the existing line, this supplementary line represents a significant capacity gain for this heavily travelled section of the Luxembourg rail network."

A video of the bridge move can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMUewwEI1rE