No bridge too far

Transport and lifting company Wagenborg helped transport and install a 200 metre long bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The bridge, which is named the De Netkous, crosses the Betuwe rail track and the highway A15. It was manufactured by VDS Staal- en Machinebouw in Nieuwdorp, Netherlands and is part of the Green Connection project. It will serve as a bicycle and pedestrian route for people wishing to access areas outside the south of Rotterdam.

To carry out the installation Wagenborg first had to transport the bridge from the manufacturing site in Nieuwdorp to the Port of Rotterdam. To do this the bridge was transported in two parts. The first section of the bridge measured 100 m long and weighed 350 tonnes, whilst the second section measured 90 m long and weighed 325 tonnes.

For the first part of the transport project the parts were loaded onto a barge by roll-on, roll-off (RORO) method using self propelled modular transporter (SPMT) at Flushing, Nieuwdorp. From here the barge sailed to the ECT City Terminal in the Port of Rotterdam. On arrival at the port, the pieces were unloaded and put into storage before the second phase of the transportation process could be carried out.

Night closures
For the second phase of the transport project the bridge parts were loaded onto two 16-axle conventional trailers. Once loaded the parts were transported from the ECT City Terminal to the construction site along the A15. To carry out this stage of the journey all the access roads to and from the A15 had to be closed, a company spokesperson said.

Challenges during this stage of the journey included limited driving space and narrow corners, which the drivers had to carefully manoeuvre.

On arrival at the site, the bridge pieces were installed onto foundation blocks using two 500 tonne mobile cranes and a Terex Demag CC 2200 crawler crane. To lift the pieces into place the bridge sections were moved on the SPMT between the crane hooks so they could be lifted into position on the foundations.
The lifts were carried out over several nights.