German heavy lift and logistics specialist Schmidbauer has expanded its fleet with an Enerpac SBL600 hydraulic gantry crane, a key piece of equipment for handling massive cable drums in the country’s SuedOstLink green energy project.

The SuedOstLink project will be a major power transmission line carrying green electricity generated in northeastern Germany to the southern state of Bavaria. Schmidbauer is tasked with handling and storing a staggering 50,000 tonnes of cable across the next four years. This translates to roughly 520 individual cable drums, each weighing a hefty 95 tonnes.

The Enerpac SBL600 gantry will be deployed at various sites across Germany. Its primary function is to lift and secure cable reels delivered on low-bed trailers before carefully lowering them onto Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) for final delivery to cable installation points.

The heavy lift gantry’s electrically powered side-shifting mechanism allows for efficient handling of reels. Empty reels returning from sites can be lifted and lowered to the ground before the SPMT is reloaded with a full cable drum. Notably, this is Schmidbauer’s first foray into hydraulic heavy lift gantry technology.

“The SBL600 is ideal for the cable reel handling project, and we were especially attracted by the ease of deploying the gantry to site,” said Philipp Verges, Sales Manager Global Projects for the Schmidbauer Group. “We’ve invested in six, hard top, standard 20m containers which will allow us to easily transport the SBL600 by road, rail and sea to projects worldwide.”

Heavy lift tech specs

The Enerpac SBL600 boasts a lifting capacity of 612 tonnes and a maximum lifting height of 10.6 metres. Schmidbauer opted for the electrically powered side-shift units, offering project teams the flexibility to adjust the ‘below the hook’ distance based on specific header beam dimensions and project requirements. This allows for reduced space requirements above the beam, maximizing available lifting distance below. The controls for the side-shift mechanism are conveniently integrated into the gantry’s base units and wireless control system.

The SBL600’s foldable boom design facilitates transportation on standard flatbed trucks, significantly reducing deployment and set-up costs for this class of gantry crane.