Over time, as bridges get used by heavy transport, they need replacing, and the Oder bridge on the German-Polish border in Küstrin is one such example. Built more than 100 years ago, the bridge is a symbol of connecting Western and Eastern Europe. 

Mammoet was brought in to lift the replacement of this historic railway bridge into place. The special replacement was to be carried out with minimal disruption to the rail network. The 2,100-ton, 180-metre-long bridge will help to increase line capacity and shorten travel times by allowing a maximum permissible speed of 120km/h.

Mammoet has extensive experience in launching large-scale bridges and has specialised heavy-lift equipment to move them as complete structures. This allows for parallel work in the preparation phase and saves time minimising disruption to heavy transport.

Fighting the elements

The bridge was assembled on the German side of the Oder and then moved, by Mammoet, as a whole structure across the river to its final installation position.

“Most bridges are floated into place using a combination of Mammoet Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs), launching plates and a pontoon. However, the use of a pontoon here was not possible due to the shallow, and changing, water levels of the river. Using a large crane, capable of positioning loads with a long reach, was also not feasible due to the weight and length of the bridge,” said, Koen Brouwers, Project Manager at Mammoet.

Mammoet’s engineers therefore came up with a solution that avoided the use of both crane and pontoon. This solution allowed work to happen regardless of the water level and made the operation more flexible, safer, and efficient.

After first jacking the bridge to 2 metres and positioning the SPMTs underneath, it was transported to the edge of the river where it was positioned over the first of five temporary supports. The bridge was then launched using a combination of specially designed launching plates and strand jacks that pulled the structure horizontally until it reached the next temporary support.

This process continued until the bridge reached the opposite side of the river. The SPMTs on the rear of the bridge were then removed and skid shoes were installed to slide the bridge into its final position. At this point, the bridge was taken over by climbing jacks, which allowed the temporary supports to be removed and the bridge to be lowered down to its final resting height.

Around 45 truckloads of specialist heavy equipment were mobilised for this project, including 96 axle lines of SPMTs, 26 launching plates, 10 climbing jacks and 2 strand jacks, according to Mammoet.

Modifying the launching plates

The engineering team faced a major challenge during the launch of the bridge, which was the risk of deformation of its structure. To address this issue, they used temporary supports with hydraulic cylinders at the quay edges and in the water, along with modified launching plates.

“It’s a big bridge and wind loads had to be considered. It has a large deflection, so the launching plates had to be modified. Typically, they swivel in two directions; however, in this case, they had to swivel 360 degrees. This always gave us full control of the operation,” said, Jack van der Vloet, Lead Engineer at Mammoet.

The entire skidding equipment had to be customised to execute the operation technically. This meant that all launching plates were retrofitted with a spherical bearing so that they could be moved in all directions. During the launch, the weight on each tower and cylinder was controlled to ensure a smooth and safe operation.

Due to the bridge’s size, all the available launching plates that Mammoet Europe had in stock had to be used.

Successful trial

Infrastructure projects are vital to support growing populations and economies. As cities become more crowded, these projects become increasingly challenging. Mammoet has extensive experience in large-scale bridge projects and the technical expertise to move bridges as a complete structure. This allows for parallel work during the preparation phase and leads to time and cost savings, as well as reduced disruption to heavy transport.

“It is very important to involve Mammoet at an early stage to support the preparation phase with technical and feasibility studies. This way, we can investigate the different execution options and decide on the best solution with the customer,” said, Uwe Richter, Senior Sales Manager at Mammoet.

Mammoet utilised a unique method for their bridge project, which involved modified launching plates instead of cranes or pontoons. This innovative solution can now be applied to other bridge projects where using a crane or pontoon is not feasible or efficient.