The work flow:
The old steel superstructures – each weighing up to 100 tonnes – on a railway bridge needed to be excavated, moved four kilometres and then stored on their sides as part of the work required during the first phase of the construction project to replace a railway bridge’s steel superstructure. The second phase of construction two weeks later saw eight steel girders that were 34 metres long and weighed 25 tonnes each being precisely lifted into position at the proper height following the on-site renewal of the bankseat abutments. The site is located on a strategically important section of track between the port of Antwerp and Germany and is subject to heavy freight-train traffic. It had become necessary to reinforce the original stone bankseat abutments on this 19th century structure and replace the steel superstructures with combined steel elements. The site is located directly on the banks of the River Lesse, which meant that it was only possible to supply the heavy components to the construction site by rail and train.
The Lesse was partially filled in and narrowed in order to allow the accompanying tasks to be carried out at site and to enable operations directly under the bridge.
The project:
The investment of € 3.5 million into the rehabilitation of this railway bridge was made to help it withstand such future environmental impacts as potential flooding from the River Lesse and to make it last for another 100 years!
