Two Grove all-terrain cranes helped to dismantle and rebuild a 92m Tasmanian railway bridge in just three days.
The GMK5220 and the GMK5100 – two of the biggest cranes in the Australian state – worked in windy coastal conditions to remove old sections of the bridge and to install new 20-tonne concrete spans. The work was completed ahead of schedule.
Construction professionals worked around the clock to finish the job on the Don River in Devonport. The five-span bridge, which dates back to 1886, is integral to Tasmania’s northwestern mainline train network, so work had to be completed as quickly as possible to mitigate the impact of the shutdown.
Ease of use and quick setup times contributed significantly to the project’s success, according to Dan Pfeiffer, general manager of the cranes’ owner Pfeiffer Cranes.
“The thing we love about the cranes is how easy they are to operate,” he said. “They’re amazingly user friendly. The GMK5220, in particular, is a big crane but still offers great mobility thanks to all-wheel steering. And the Megatrak suspension system means off-road sites are no problem. The lifting charts of both cranes are invaluable, and having a top-notch Manitowoc Crane Care service technician in Tasmania is an added bonus.”
The GMK5220 and GMK5100 cranes offer respective capacities of 220 tonnes and 100 tonnes. The Grove behemoths were selected for the rebuild because of their ability to perform lifts at long radii, reducing the number of setups and moves and thus saving valuable time.
Working at a 20m radius, the GMK5220 began by removing the railway panels, ballast and deck boards. It then lifted each of the five old spans onto trucks and installed the new 19m-long spans. Finally, the 220-tonne crane was used to replace the old deck with new rail panels. In turn, the GMK5100 was used in the hardstand area to load and unload trucks. Fitted with its full 31-tonne counterweight, the crane lifted 30-tonne loads at an 11m radius.
