Moog's inner pier inspection design

In June Moog delivered an Inner Pier Inspection Unit MPB 10-0,7/100 to the German railway network.

The MPB 10-0,7/100 consists of a winch car and a working platform. The winch car was manufactured specifically for German railway viaduct piers on the high speed ICE lines, which are designed for such winch cars.

The platform of the inspection unit is not permanently installed in the piers and can be slid out the door at the pier's ground entrance and into the next pier if necessary. Depending on the bridges the platforms can also be permanently positioned inside the piers. Its length can be adjusted to the piers’ width by moving out the platform manually.

For inspection work the winch car is slid into the box girder of the bridge. It is then positioned above the corresponding pier with the help of an electric drive vehicle. Steel cables are dropped through the girder into the pier guided by three permanently installed pulleys.

At this point the platform is at the base of the pier and the cables are connected to the platform inside the pier. The platform can then be carried up and down by using a control panel connected to the winch car.

For better stability there are support rollers on the platforms' sides, which guide it up and down along the inner wall of the pier. In this way the piers can be inspected from the inside.

The working platform measures 0.7 m x 5 m - 10.0 m and can be lowered down to 100 m. With a net weight of 250 kg its maximum load capacity is 300 kg.

The winch car weighs 1,200 kg. There is an electric cable winch installed to the winch car, which is used to drive the platform up and down.