Autovictor beats urban bridge installation challenge

The actual lift only took just over an hour. Photo: Tadano

Installing a new tram bridge in the ancient city of Bologna, Italy, saw the lifting specialist overcome several challenges.

The new tram bridge over the Navile Canal in the Corticella district of Bologna was lifted into place on 30 September. Heavy lifting and transport specialist Autovictor chose a 650 tonne capacity Tadano CC 38.650-1 lattice boom crawler crane from its rental fleet for this job.

The challenge was to precisely position the 45 metre long bridge weighing 192 tonnes in an urban site with limited space. Surrrounding buildings and infrastructure, plus busy traffic all added to the challenge.

The new steel bridge weighed nearly 200 tonnes and was 45 metres long. Photo: Tadano

Attentive care

Careful planning and execution were key, requiring co-ordination and maximum precision at every stage of the project, Tadano said.

The crane was rigged in SSL_1 configuration with 54 metres of main boom and the Vario-SL superlift with a 36 metre SL back mast. Counterweight on the crane’s superstructure weighed a total of 165 tonnes and the ballast on the carrier weighed 50 tonnes. It was rigged with an additional 285 tonnes of SL counterweight. Autovictor spent around two weeks assembling the crane.

After weeks of careful preparation the main lift to install the bridge on its abutments was done in just over an hour.

Everything went to plan, the company said, “thanks to the meticulous planning of the Autovictor team, the professionalism of the assembly crew and crane operators and, of course, the reliability of the Tadano CC 38.650-1.”

Hundreds of tonnes of counterweight and ballast were used on the 650 tonne crane. Photo: Tadano