Support frame bridge in action Slider

Support frame bridge in action

 

August 2, 2019 | Gabriela Mayer

In the summer of 2019, the project department of heavy transport specialist Bau-Trans transported a 23 metre long steam drum weighing 105 tonnes, from Nüziders in Vorarlberg to Upper Austria. Many months of preparatory work were required for this special transport.

"We started with the planning work for the transport of the steam drum around one year before the start of the journey", explained Markus Meusburger, head of operations at Bau-Trans. The route was from Nüziders in Vorarlberg to Nettingsdorf near Ansfelden in Upper Austria. A feasibility study was carried out beforehand to check whether this transport was possible on the roads. Due to the 23 metre length and the more than one hundred tonne weight of the container, the staff of the Bau-Trans project department decided on the "support frame bridge" for the transport. Once the planning had been successfully concluded, Bau-Trans were commissioned with carrying out the transport. The heavy transport specialist's staff started with the preparations six months before the transport date at the end of July 2019. The weight of the transported goods meant that structural calculations were necessary for several structures in Vorarlberg, Germany and Upper Austria.

Teamwork during the road transport

Several route section surveys had to be carried out due to newly established or changing construction sites. At Munich, the heavy transport had to be diverted off the motorway and routed around a tunnel chain due to the low ceiling height. In doing so the road signs service had to temporarily remove a few of the road signs. Despite the conscientious preparation, the transport still had to be briefly interrupted just after Munich due to an unregistered construction site. Valuable time was lost here. The team quickly made up the time lost in the delays. As early as the very next day, everything was back on schedule as the police approved the start being brought forward by two hours.

Construction site impedes heavy transport

However, the complex part of the transport project was still ahead. The section from the border at Suben via the Traun exit and on to Nettingsdorf really put the Bau-Trans transport escort team to the test due to a construction site at the Traun exit, where noise protection walls were erected. The time frame was tight. A great many traffic diversion measures had to be implemented from the exit to the destination. These included the dismantling of motorway guard rails, the laying of carriageway plates as well as the removal of signs and lamp posts at the proceeding roundabouts and junctions. After that the heavy transport was able to proceed to the destination without further impediment. After arriving in Nettingsdorf at the start of August the container was unloaded with two 150 tonne mobile cranes and transported to the installation position on the factory site with a self-propelled modular transporter. Finally, the container was set down on the foundation with a Liebherr LTM 1750 mobile crane from Felbermayr crane hire.