A Genie S-45 Trax unit has been used to help build a railway flyover near to the German city of Hamburg.
The self-propelled telescopic track boom lift, which was supplied to contractor Bernhard Becker by hire firm Zeppelin Rental, had to operate in a variety of challenging conditions in order to connect the B208 dual carriage way in Ratzeburg with the B207 road to Lübeck.
“As a construction company, when we build bridges, we need machines that offer high terrainability and tough telescopic booms to handle heavy parts,” explained Andre Weingarten, site manager for Bernhard Becker.
“In our industry, we push equipment to the limits. On this assignment, due to the tough conditions and railway traffic between Lüneburg and Lübeck in full operation on the tracks below, being able to count on an extremely reliable machine was crucial.
“The railway flyover in Ratzeburg was the first time we used a Genie Trax boom lift model. The S-45 boom lift did such a great job that it really convinced us. We will certainly rent it again,” he added.
During the construction of the flyover, the Genie unit had to contend with a combination of heavy rain, frost, and snow – conditions made all the more challenging by the fact that the surrounding terrain consisted of deep, uneven sand.
With this in mind, the S-45 Trax’s four-point oscillating axle track drive system proved invaluable to Weingarten and his colleagues. The unit offers impressive traction making it suitable for use on soft muddy, sandy, snowy, or waterlogged terrain.
The tracked boom is equally at home on harder, uneven gravel, rock, concrete, or asphalt-based surfaces, according to Genie.
With its horizontal outreach of 11.18m and a maximum lifting capacity of 227kg, the S-45 was used to lift and place the flyover’s bearing pads and drainage components. The unit was also used to remove the wooden framework used during the initial construction of the structure.
“The S-45 Trax boom lift is an extraordinarily versatile machine that has proved to be a worthwhile investment,” commented Dirk Feyerabend, head of Zeppelin Rental’s Allied Equipment division.
“Its Trax track drive design copes well with almost any surface. Additionally, since this particular track-mounted unit also drives and steers like a wheeled machine, it is suitable for a wide range of applications virtually anywhere, at any time of year,” he concluded.
