InfraStructures - September 2012 - A Bridge for the Bridge

A Bridge for the Bridge

Forwarding specialist Spedition Kuebler accomplishes unique transport operation with heavy-duty vehicles from Scheuerle.

Bridges are there in order to make connections, to overcome rivers and gorges. But what if you need to move a 100 t load across a bridge built to withstand only 12 t from 4-wheeled vehicles? Answer: you need a very long InterCombi combination and then push the load from one end to the other.

Spedition Kuebler from Michelfeld, in Germany, was awarded the contract to deliver a 60 t transformer for a sub-station in Ingelfingen. The difficulty with this project was the fact that a bridge which had to be crossed only had a 12 t permissible weight allowance. Together with that of the transport vehicles, the total weight of the load easily reached around 100 t. However, the heavy-duty forwarding specialists from Kübler were able to find the right solution.

In the first phase, the transformer was taken to the bridge on 8 axle lines of a Scheuerle InterCombi. On the other side, an additional 24 axle lines InterCombi unit was waiting to play its part. Very slowly, the empty InterCombi was moved back across the bridge to the loaded unit.

Thanks to the number of wheels available, the weight of the vehicle could be evenly distributed ensuring that an individual wheel load of 3.4 t could be realized. As it happened, this was just within the permissible limit for the thin concrete slab of the bridge. The combination was then coupled so that 12 axle lines were positioned before and after the bridge respectively.

The axle lines positioned on the bridge itself were raised, which meant that the complete weight of the transformer was distributed on the axle lines resting on solid ground. This was made possible using vehicle technology developed by Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik GmbH. With a 36 t technical axle load, the modular InterCombi platform trailer has been designed for the safe transportation of large loads and provides sufficient reserves through the robust construction of the frame. Thanks to the hydraulic axle load distribution, the loading limit can always be maintained. “In effect, we have built a bridge across the bridge,” said Ken Roessler, managing director of Spedition Kuebler. Slowly but surely, the transformer was then pulled to the other side by means of steel cables.

Source: TII Group