Gertzen Krane & Transporte, Cometto SPMTs and a 391t Generator in Germany

Gertzen Krane & Transporte GmbH & Co. KG from Kluse was given the task of removing a 391t generator with a diameter of 4.24m, from the Emsland nuclear power plant near Lingen.

The end phase power plant, which went into operation in 1988, has already started. The actual demolition will start in 2022 but the first components are already being scrapped.

The generator, which initially ran in normal operation and was then stored on site as a spare part, had to be removed from the safety area of the nuclear power plant. Before the transport could start various passages in the works were overlaid with steel plates. According to managing director Wolfgang Gertzen, such a project starts much earlier: “The pre-planning is the be-all and end-all with such a job. We don’t leave anything to chance here.”

On the site, the driver Ingo Wiggelinghoff assembled the 18-axle Cometto SPMT combination with a 202 kW power pack and a 25.2 metre loading platform. Gertzen’s 6-axle unit was joined by a further 12 axle lines from Autokrane Schares from Bocholt. Cross-hire renting at its best!

What was tested in theory was implemented in practice without trouble. Thanks to the electronic steering of the SPMT self-propelled vehicle with seven different steering programs, Ingo Wiggelinghoff guides the combination through even the narrowest bottleneck in the power plant.

The generator was set down on support beams outside the safety area. The Cometto SPMT was then driven out from under it in its lowest driving position, and immediately the cutting torch operators took over to chop the generator into small pieces for recycling the metal.

Source Cometto