Tecnogruas, a heavy lift contractor covering the Americas, has used an Enerpac SyncHoist system to lift and place concrete bridge beams for a railway bridge in Chile.
With the original bridge built in 1889, the new railway bridge over the Biobío River in central Chile will connect people from the towns of Concepción and San Pedro de la Paz, which sit either side of the river.
A total of 62 steel reinforced concrete beams needed to be installed, of which Tecnogruas was tasked with 22. Of the contractor’s total, 19 were positioned using two cranes, with the bridge’s three largest beams over the highway and railway using just the single crane because of space restrictions.
After dialogue with Engineered Rigging, Tecnogruas selected the Enerpac SyncHoist to assist with moving and placing the three heaviest beams – weighing 168 tonnes, 138 tonnes and 107 tonnes, respectively. Engineered Rigging supplied four Enerpac synchronous hoists with a capacity of 376 tonnes, as well as a diesel hydraulic SyncHoist pump and 400-tonne shackles.
The SyncHoists were attached to the crane for lifting and positioning the beams, allowing Tecnogruas’ engineers to level each beam before swinging them into position. This way, no time was wasted on unnecessary lifting and changing of rigging.
When completed, the 1.8 km long, two-track ballasted bridge will permit trains to cross at speeds of up to 100 km/h and possibly accommodate double decker rolling stock.
In January 2025, HLPFI reported that Hollandia Services had restored a bridge using Enerpac cube jacks.
