August 11 - The latest innovation from ALE, the Mega Jack 800, has made its debut during a large bridge exchange project in the Netherlands.
The Mega Jack 800, which was launched in June, was used in the load out, transport and installation of the new 1,570-tonne Loenerslootse bridge over the Amsterdam-Rijn canal in Nigtevecht.
The new bridge comprised of a giant arch and a bridge deck, which were transported down river to Nigtevecht, using three connected barges and an inland vessel. The arch was discharged from the vessel using a Liebherr LTM1400 and LTM1500 crane.
After unloading from the vessel, the bridge deck was positioned underneath the arch, and the Mega Jack 800 was employed to jack up the 1,250-tonne bridge to 9 m from the barge deck.
The remaining part of the project saw the removal of the old Loenerslootse bridge, which weighed 1,630 tonnes, and the final installation of the new one.
In this first project for the Mega Jack 800, ALE also utilised climbing jacks, SPMTs, barges, strand jacks and a heavy skid system, as well as 700-tonne capacity and 500-tonne capacity mobile cranes.
"The fact that the Mega Jack system is scalable to meet different types of requirements gives us the versatility we need for these types of jobs," said ALE project manager, Hans de Hoon.
