Sarens Overcome Challenging Logistics to Install Bridge Sections in France – Heavy Lift News
17 Jan 2025

Sarens Overcome Challenging Logistics to Install Bridge Sections in France

Every bridge installation carried out by Sarens is unique, and with decades of expertise in this sector, they know that there will always be fresh challenges to solve. No matter what challenges emerge, their job is to find the solution.

So when client MAEG Costruzioni SpA contacted Sarens about installing a steel cyclist and pedestrian walkway in Albi, France, Sarens took on the challenge. Their mission was to install nine large bridge sections along the historic 19th-century railway viaduct on the Tarn river.

To do it, the team had to work with two constraints:

  • Short timeframe: Sarens had to install all nine sections within two weeks.
  • Narrow waterway: Sarens had to transport the main lifting crane, fully disassembled, along a narrow and difficult section of the Tarn river–including passing through a tight lock.

Fortunately, Sarens is world-renowned for applying their engineering expertise and creativity to problems like these, and they soon produced a practical solution: the crew would transport the CC1500 crane along the Tarn using specialised, narrow transport barges before handing off bridge components to a Sarens modular barge for installation.

The project, which was successfully completed in October of 2024, deployed the following equipment:

  • CC1500 crane
  • GMK6400
  • Sennebogen 683 HD
  • Sarens modular barge as the main barge
  • Narrow transport barges

To get the CC1500 crane on site they had to transport the crane piece by piece from the Netherlands on narrow barges passing through a tight lock on the way

Furthermore, due to the narrow width of these barges, the crew had to pay special attention to their stability. For example, if the crane body was to be placed only 10cm away from the centre of the barge, it would list by 1°, and would become stuck in the lock!

These careful stability calculations were one reason why the CC1500 was chosen for the job: it had to be sufficiently strong to lift each bridge section but light enough to avoid the draught of the barge being too deep for the shallow river.

In total, Sarens used 11 trucks, in addition to the barges, to transport the CC1500, as well as 37 trucks for the main Sarens modular barge, and 8 trucks for the chartered  narrow barges. It took the rigging team five days to assemble the main barge and a further five days to assemble the crane with a 54m main boom. Once on location, the transport barge was reconfigured so it would be wide enough for installation work, allowing the crane to be driven onto the main Sarens barge.

With all the equipment in place and ready to work, the CC1500 proceeded to lift and install all nine bridge sections to a 30m height. It slewed and crawled along the barge to install each load, which weighed up to 50t and measured 32m in radius.

 

The completed project photograph courtesy of Ney and Partners

 

Thanks to Sarens’ five-member crew and their smooth collaboration with their client, there is now a direct and safe link over the Tarn for the cyclists and pedestrians of Albi. This is an important part of the city’s urban renewal plan, which aims to conserve historical architecture while successfully developing the surrounding neighbourhood.

The bridge was designed by Ney and Partners and constructed by the Italian firm MAEG for the city of Albi

 

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