Cranes lift train

French crane service provider Mordefroy Levage used its Demag AC 100-4L and Demag AC 140 all terrain cranes to carry out the tandem lift of a 34-tonne TGV locomotive for French railway company SNCF.

First the company loaded the train onto a lowbed trailer using the two cranes. When unloading the train onto a track at the Technicentre SNCF in Romilly-sur-Seine, however, there was limited working space. According to Demag, a Tadano brand, the cranes’ compact design meant that this was not a issue.

The lowbed trailer was positioned alongside the rail track and the 22-metre-long train was slung with spreader beams at the front and rear in order to provide the control and stability required during the lift.

The Demag AC 100-4L picked up the front of the locomotive with its hook at a radius of 13 meters meaning that it lifted a total weight of 16 tonnes. The Demag AC 140 worked at a radius of 14 meters and lifted the remaining 18 tonnes.

With this configuration, the two cranes lifted the TGV to a height of 12 meters and, in synchronization, moved it over the track, setting it down on the rails.

The job took eight hours to complete. Because everything that the two cranes needed for the tandem lift fitted on one transportation truck, on-site setup was able to be completed by three people in one hour.

“The two Demag cranes had more than the performance characteristics required for this job, not to mention that they work like a charm together, so it was only natural for us to use them,” said Mordefroy Levage’s general manager Patrick Mordefroy