Belgium-headquartered heavy transport engineering firm Sarens has been busy developing and executing a custom-designed engineering solution to replace the Emile Hammerl bridge in Luxembourg.
The bridge, which is at the Bettembourg train station, is being replaced by Sarens’ client, JV Tralux-MBB. Both time and space constraints made this project a particular challenge, as the railway would be blocked during operation and overhead railroad lines would still be in place whilst moving the largest bridge section.
Designing a tailored CS250 tilting system, Sarens deployed 12 CS250 towers; eight tilting cyliners; four CS450 towers; four CS1000 towers; 20 KS4ST SPMT axle lines; and 12 K24 SPMT axle lines. Equipment was delivered from Belgium and took roughly two weeks to set up.
Sarens’ team began by removing two old bridge sections and transported them out via SPMT, crossing the overhead lines with the tilting system. SPMT transport was meticulously supervised throughout to avoid two SPMTs exerting different driving forces.
The two bridge sections were then transported and installed into place. The first was transported below the overhead lines and jacked to its final height, with the second – weighing around 1,000 tonnes and measuring 80 m long – crossed the overhead lines with the tilting system. This marked the first time that this exact tilting solution had ever been used.
Weighing 340 tonnes, Sarens placed the final segment of the bridge with SPMTs and eight CS250 jacking towers last month. The Bettembourg train station bridge is expected to reopen for traffic in April 2025, following a year of extensive work.
Earlier this week, Sarens unveiled its SGC-120.1 crane.
