Frankfurt residents reconnected by Eisele

Eisele AG carried out a dual lift to reconnect two parts of Frankfurt, Germany after the former bridge was demolished more than a year ago.

Traffic between Heddernheim and Eschersheim was severely disrupted since the demolition of the road bridge over the Nidda River in February 2010. A narrow temporary pedestrian bridge had been installed in its place.

Eisele used its 1,200 tonne capacity Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 wheeled mobile crane and 300 tonne LR 1300 to lift the 140 tonne, 32 m long bridge into place.

"Although each crane would have been able to lift up the enormous weight individually, the fact that the bridge had to be slewed across the river and positioned right on spot required two separate units as well as extraordinary teamwork, " said Rocco Schimmel, head of Eisele AG Crane & Engineering Group's technical department.

The LTM 11200-9.1 lifted one end of the pre-assembled bridge across the river while the LR 1300 turned the structure to its required position.

"Operating two cranes at the same time requires precise coordination of their movements. The weights each crane had to lift constantly changed as the LTM 11200-9.1 stood still while the LR 1300 smoothly moved forward toward the bridge's final position," Schimmel explained.