April 1 - Heavy load logistics contractor Wasel has used five Liebherr cranes to repair a container bridge on the river Rhine, which was damaged during heavy storms.
When hurricane-strength winds struck the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2014, the storm managed to push a container bridge against its buffers with extreme force, which resulted in the portal crane and its rollers partly jumping out of its rails. After being dismantled and repaired, the huge structure was ready for installation.
Wasel used two Liebherr crawler cranes and two LTM mobile cranes to reinstall the 109 m long by 21 m wide container crane. The two LR 1600/2 crawler cranes were positioned on the bank of the Rhine in a 6 m deep preflooder basin, while an LTM 1750-9.1 and an LTM 1500-8.1 took charge of the hoisting work on land, and an LTM 1220-5.2 was used for erection purposes.
The portal crane track was first manoeuvred between the cranes using two SPMTs and auxiliary rail systems, before the 560-tonne structure was lifted by four of the Liebherr cranes in a four-way hoist and held at a height of around 25 m.
During this process, the new supports and tracks to the portal crane were installed by the 220-tonne capacity Liebherr crane. Finally, the 35 m high container bridge was reset on its tracks.
