BRIDGE WORK Ӏ CRAWLER CRANES
position. For the second segment, it was sufficient to set the crawler cranes back around ten metres and place the component directly in front of the crawler cranes with pinpoint accuracy. Crane operator Florian Lauschke had
to perform the lift from the ship with a wide working radius. The LR 11000 models used were built in the SL11DBV setup configuration with 96 and 84-metre boom lengths. They worked with 130 tonnes of central ballast, 250 tonnes of turntable ballast and 450 or 340 tonnes of derrick ballast. In the second phase of the project
the existing pipe bridge had to be dismantled and the new steel bridge
slotted into place. To do this one of the two LR 11000 cranes was dismantled at the pre-assembly area, transported around 1,000 metres via the A42 and reassembled on the motorway, now with a 72-metre main boom. The old pipe bridge comprised four concrete sections; in dismantling it steel corsets were used to avoid structural damage during the lifting operations. At the same time, the new bridge
segments were transported on SPMT travel gear via the closed-off A42 to the installation site, ready for direct lifting and insertion. Project manager Viktor Hein from WASEL praised not only the lifting
capacity of the Liebherr crawlers but their agility, too. “The operator- and assembly-friendly design meant that we were able to relocate one of the two cranes in the shortest possible time from the pre-assembly area to the assembly area via the motorway. The fact that the cranes were able to lift loads of up to 240 tonnes precisely and safely, even without any ballast pallet, significantly accelerated the speed of the project. The project was completed two days earlier than the five days that had been planned.” This was extremely satisfactory given that a major aim was to close off the motorway for as short a time as possible.
FAST MOVER
Two 120-ton Link-Belt Cranes TCC-1200 telecrawlers are expediting the build of a new $44 million bridge expansion project in lower southeast Texas near the Mexican border. The revamped structure, the new
Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, is over a mile-and-a-half long and will serve as a major trade hub between Mexico and the United States, doubling the capacity of the existing four-lane structure. The IOC Company, L.L.C. of Edinburg, Texas, is using the Link-Belt telecrawlers to form pile bents, ranging from 11–40 feet tall, as part of the first phase of construction. IOC crane operator Max Gutierrez praises the telecrawlers' manoeuvrability, as they frequently move half-a-mile between partially made bents. “They can pick and carry forms, rebar cages, and other equipment easily between the 60-foot-spaced lined columns with the boom retracted and no need for outriggers," he says. "This means I can work fast and efficiently. I usually work at 85ft of boom, at boom angles between 40 to 45 degrees. Since the area is a bit congested, with this type of machine, I
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