Precise lifting of heavy steel bridge components

Darmstadt/St. Ingbert

After the start of the steel construction assembly on September 24th, 10 segments of the Grumbachtal bridge have now been assembled. The individual steel components with weights of up to 140 tons were manufactured at our headquarters in Darmstadt to the highest quality standards and delivered to St. Ingbert by heavy-duty transporters.

Massive mobile cranes with a maximum load capacity of 500 tons lifted the heavy steel bridge segments precisely onto their piers. Following the lifting assembly, the individual sections were welded together.

In the coming weeks, further parts of the steel structure (in total 4800 tons) will be delivered and installed, so that the superstructure will arrive at the second abutment before Christmas. Erection of the last two shots is scheduled for early 2021.

New railway overpass over the river Steinach: Installation is proceeding successfully

In the middle of May the assembly of the new railway overpass over the Steinach in Balingen has started. First of all a supporting structure was assembled on which the newly manufactured bridge sections could be placed and welded. After the carriageway slabs were placed on the support structure as the first components, the two large trussed slabs were lifted in. Assembly was not easy here because the 44-metre long trusses had to be delivered backwards under the old railway bridge. This proved to be a big problem due to the low clearance height: The trucks could not pass completely under the bridge. The solution was to lift the long trusses under the old existing bridge using a 700 tonne crane. The crane thus unloaded the trucks, placed the components next to the support structure, erected them and lifted the 64-tonne trusses onto the support structure. A great deal of sensitivity was required here, as the railway traffic on the existing bridge was not stopped during this time.

After this assembly phase, support structure was completed and then the smaller trusses were lifted in. Currently, the entire bridge is being welded and the corrosion protection is being completed. The work is proceeding according to schedule.

Following the steel construction work, the client will dismantle the old existing bridge and will move the new bridge to its final position.

Another milestone successfully completed

The second shifting of the bridge north of Bamberg was successfully completed by our technicians on the weekend 17th/18th April 2020.

In the course of the replacement and reconstruction of the Bridge 93b of the BAB A73 Bamberg-Lichtenfels, the steel construction (approx. 1,400 tons) of the steel composite structure was shifted by 45 m over the B4 and the railway line to be crossed with the beginning of the closing break of the German Railway on Saturday and reached the auxiliary pier as planned.

On the following Sunday, the remaining shift took place with a total of 70 m to abutment 40. During the next weekend operation the bridge was then stacked by 1.30 m to its intended final position.

The composite steel bridge consists of two separate superstructures (section 1, Lichtenfels carriageway and section 2, Bamberg carriageway). The two separate superstructures are antimetrically designed, geometrically particularly challenging trough structures made of steel with a concrete roadway slab. The total length of the three-span bridge is 150 m with a total superstructure width of 37.20 m. For the entire steel construction of the structure 2800 tons of steel are required.

Lifting of the new railway overpass

In the night from Good Friday to Saturday the lifting of the new railway overpass over the Hattenbergstraße in Mainz took place.

During the day, two 500-ton cranes were used to dismantle the temporary bridges before the assembly of the new bridges could begin in the evening.

The railway overpass consists of three separate superstructures. Each superstructure is designed as a trough bridge with thick plate.  On each of the two outer superstructures a walkway is attached on one side. The span width of the bridges is approx. 22.00 m, the construction height is 1.5 m. Each of the superstructures has a width of approx. 4.50 m. The footpaths have widths of up to 1.35 m.
This resulted in unit weights of up to 135 tons.

The bridges were set down on allowance stacks and then the bearings were cast.

The Hattenbergstraße railway overpass went into operation on schedule.

Installation of the Schwelmetal bridge successfully started with moving traffic

Darmstadt/Wuppertal, January 29, 2020.

Since the beginning of January, the assembly of the steel structure for the replacement of the substructures 2 and 3 of the Schwelmetal Bridge built in 1960 in the course of the BAB A1 motorway has been in progress.

The Schwelmetal Bridge on the A1 motorway at the Wuppertal-Langerfeld junction spans several electrified railway tracks, public roads and waters. Up to 100,000 vehicles pass through the bridge every day. The two inner sections of the bridge, built in 1959 and 1960, are no longer sufficiently load-bearing due to the decades of stress and strain, especially due to increased heavy goods traffic.

The replacement construction of the bridge will be done “from the inside out”. This is the only way to maintain the traffic on the A1 motorway and on the DB AG track systems located underneath the bridge. The upper construction site on the A1 motorway has been set up as an island construction site.

The steel structure is being assembled using self-propelled transporters (SPMT).

Donges SteelTec has been commissioned with the fabrication and erection of the steel structure for the substructures 2 and 3 with a total span of 207m as well as the application of the corrosion protection.