Seeing a bridge moving into position – such a colossal transport is rare to witness. Accordingly, many people didn't want to miss the spectacle offered by Schmidbauer's assignment in Rötha near Leipzig. The campaign was also present in the media, including RTL, dpa and Die Zeit.
Only understandable when you look at the dimensions of the steel bridge: 1950 tons heavy and 79 meters long. The structure, which cost 5.8 million euros, was pre-assembled over months down to the abutments. But then it had to be done very quickly. Schmidbauer managed the resource planning in just one week. The equipment, for which 14 trucks were needed, was on site at the Zwenkau B95 junction within 48 hours of the order being placed. The lifting went hand in hand with a full closure of the B95.
Two 16-axis SPMTs, two 18-axis SPMTs and four PPUs were at the center of the action. Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT) are a type of remote-controlled platform with multiple wheel axles. The special thing about it: Since the wheels can be moved individually and independently of each other, the platform can not only overcome obstacles, but also drive in all directions and rotate around its own axis. Both ends of the bridge, initially raised by jacks and lifted onto the “centipede”, rested on SPMTs. A lot of preparatory work was necessary to make the transport possible at all. In the areas of the B95 and the future A72, a sufficiently stable driving surface with plates had to be produced first. Concrete sliding walls in the area of the western abutment were dismantled. In addition, a substructure was required for the load.
2,100 hp were needed to maneuver the bridge. The steel colossus, which bears the simple name "70" and connects the Böhlen district of Großdeuben and the Cröbern landfill, was not only transported, but also rotated into the correct position. This is all the more impressive because the transport set a weight record on German roads: the bridge including the substructure weighed 2,200 tons. If you add the weight of the SPMTs, 2,520 (!) tons rolled over the road.
The assignment not only sets another highlight in Schmidbauer's company history. It also makes a significant infrastructural contribution: the construction work at Böhlen is part of the completion of the last section of the Autobahn 72 between Chemnitz and Leipzig. The 162-kilometer-long autobahn connection from the Bavarian Vogtland via Chemnitz to Leipzig has been built since 2003.
Equipment: 2 x 16-axle SPMT & 2 x 18-axle SPMT + 4 PPUs with a total output of over 2100 hp
Location: Motorway A72 between Chemnitz and Leipzig, near Böhlen/Rötha
Date: 10/30/2022
