Dutch heavy-lift specialist Mammoet has helped to lift an 8,400t combined road and rail bridge into place, as a replacement to a century-old railway bridge over the Danube in Linz, Austria.
The project involved getting the sections onto barges to float them into place for steel fabricator MCE, a subsidiary of Austrian engineer Habau Group.
Each of the two main sections, assembled on the riverside, were around 100m long and weighing 2,800t.
Over 11 days, Mammoet lifted them with four of its Mega Jack 800s and used 120-axle self-propelled modular transporters to shift them onto the barges that would position them above the bridge’s foundations.
Four barges were lashed together to form a single vessel. The bridge sections were then moved to their final positions and lowered onto the bridge piers.
The company said: “Due to precise planning and excellent cooperation, both bridge segments were safely floated in and installed, and the Danube could be re-opened ahead of schedule several times.
“The bridge is expected to be completed in October and, as a key project, will greatly relieve urban traffic in Linz in the future.”
Top image: The bridge sections were moved by self-propelled transports to the four lashed-together barges (Image courtesy of Mammoet)
