Schmidbauer to lift and move 50,000 tonnes of cable

Schmidbauer ran through its new Enerpac SBL600 hydraulic gantry before putting it out to work. Photo: Enerpac

Lifting and specialized transport contractor Schmidbauer has added new equipment to its fleet for a contract that will see it handle 50,000 tonnes of electrical power cable.

The company bought a 600 tonne capacity Enerpac SBL600 telescopic hydraulic lifting gantry to use on a German power transmission infrastructure project. The SuedOstLink will be a primary power line transmitting green electricity generated in North-East Germany to Bavaria in the south.

Over the next four years Schmidbauer will co-ordinate the handling and storage of 520 cable drums. Each one weighs 95 tonnes. The SBL600 will be set up at several sites to lift the drums from road trailers, hold them and then lower them on to self propelled modular transporter (SPMT) for onward delivery to the point of use off road.

Sideways for precision

The gantry’s side shift will help speed up the positioning and accurate placement of the cable drums.

This SBL is Schmidbauer’s first hydraulic telescopic gantry system. Commenting on the move Philipp Verges, sales manager for global projects at Schmidbauer Group, said, “The SBL600 is ideal for the cable reel handling project, and we were especially attracted by the ease of deploying the gantry to site. We’ve invested in six, hard top, standard 20 metre containers which will allow us to easily transport the SBL600 by road, rail and sea to projects worldwide.”

Enerpac’s SBL600 lifts 612 tonnes and offers a 10.6 metre maximum lifting height. The electric side shift is controlled via the wireless system. It means the headroom requirement can be kept to a minimum above the header beam to maximise available lifting height wherever possible.

The vertical lifting leg of the gantry tower can be folded down to save money by allowing transport on standard flat bed trailers.

Handing over the new SBL600 gantry to Schmidbauer at Enerpac’s customer experience day. Pictured from left to right are: Erik Tigelar, Enerpac key account manager; Mitja Schimek, Fricke Schmidbauer Schwerlast CEO; Jeroen Bouten, Enerpac general manager. Photo: Enerpac