Titschkus delivers press with help from Goldhofer

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A tight bend for Titschkus

Due to the high transport weight of 235 tonnes and the fact that some bridges could not be used on the straight way to Airbus because of limited capacity, the project manager Gerd Mennen had to puzzle out a driving route which was three times longer.

The day before the transport, the forming machine was loaded onto the 16-axle Goldhofer heavy duty combination type THP/ST.

And the next day, early in the morning, the driver Frank Schröder started its 600 HP MAN truck and the convoy set off on its 60 km way, escorted by police and other service vehicles.

A truck with loading crane drove ahead to remove road signs and to consolidate the ground in narrow curves by means of steel plates. Streets had to be completely blocked to enable the 4 m wide and 39 m long trailer combination to manoeuvre and to enter narrow road crossings and curves. Due to the good preparatory work, the transport already reached the gate of the Airbus works in Nordenham after less than 3 hours.

Here, the transport team had to cope with a new problem. The 39 m long trailer combination was too big to enter the hall and to enable manoeuvring. So, the trailer had to be modified into a 10 axle unit.

Factory work

To solve this, the Dutch mounting specialist van Harten mounted a 200-tonne lifting system in the area between the production halls. The forming machine was held by the lifting system while the Titschkus-Crew shortened the Goldhofer trailer by six axle lines and a straight deck. Because the Goldhofer axles were technically capable of carrying 36 tons per axle line, the new weight of 16 tons did not pose any problem.

Driving through a small gate to come into the production hall and to manoeuvre beside the mounting position of the machine, required great driving skill. After performing acrobatic movements on the steering wheel, the lowloader was into its position for unloading after only 30 minutes. The 60 degree steering angle of the Goldhofer lowloader helped positioning.

The lifting system - which had been dismounted during the move - was now remounted in the hall and since the machine held by the cables of the lifting system, the lowloader only had to be driven out the hall. Because the lifting system would not fit through the door it came in, the combination trailer was manoeuvred through the production hall to the opposite gate.