Bridge lift project

DELIVERING A RAIL BRIDGE PROGRAM

Late November 2021, saw Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift and Shift delivering a critical rail bridge program for the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) in Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

WORKING WITH THE ARTC AND CLIENT

Laing O’Rourke, Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift and Shift deployed its 600t Terex-Demag CC2800-1 crawler to remove the existing Bridge St rail bridge over a four day and night period and immediately began works to install the replacement bridge.

The replacement of the Bridge Street rail bridge is part of works by ARTC to replace three rail bridges in Muswellbrook including the Bridge Street Bridge, the Hunter River Bridge and the Muscle Creek Bridge as part of a $58 million project.

In a statement, ARTC said works will be carried out during the day and night during the planned works period to reduce the length of disruption to the community and the rail network.

“During the November planned works period we will be removing the existing Bridge Street bridge and installing the new bridge,” ARTC said. “This is a major milestone for the project and brings us

The replacement of the Bridge Street rail bridge is part of works by ARTC to replace three rail bridges in Muswellbrook including the Bridge Street Bridge, the Hunter River Bridge and the Muscle Creek Bridge as part of a $58 million project.

one major step closer to completion.

Kyle Greenwood, Supervisor for Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift and Shift provides more details on relating to the construction of the new bridge.

“We deployed our 600t capacity TerexDemag CC2800-1 to assist firstly remove the old bridge then help construct Bridge Street rail bridge over the New England highway.

“The initial stages of the project saw the CC2800-1 installing precast concrete girders and installing precast concrete deck panels. The heaviest girder we lifted weighed 138t. the crane was in Superlift (SSL) configuration, with 66m of main boom, 30m bask mast, 180t superstructure counterweight, 60t car body counterweight and 300t of Superlift counterweight. We had our Sennebogen 683R onsite to support the 600t with its superlift tray weight changes,” said Greenwood.

“The lift radius was 35m for the girder and we also had to lift 36t deck panels out to 54m. Because we had meticulously planned the project, everything went to plan and there wasn’t anything to complicated about the lifts.

“Unfortunately, the one factor we couldn’t control was the weather and it was wet leading up to the shutdown. This meant the crane pad was recertified by a Geotech a couple of hours before the lifts commenced to ensure ground stability,” he said.

The CC2800-1 crane is great to work with, excellent chart, user friendly and smooth to operate.

The Demag CC 2800 – 1 is a crawler crane a lifting capacity of 600t. The maximum boom length is 138m and the maximum jib length is 36m.

The car body and crawler side frames are bending and torsion resistant, and made of high strength fine grain structural steel. The track shoes, idler, and drive sockets of the crawlers are made of heat treated high strength cast steel. There are 15 rollers with hardened rolling surfaces on each side of the crawlers and an automatic centralized lubrication system. The frame of the superstructure, also torsion resistant and made of high “The lift radius was 35m for the girder and we also had to lift 36t deck panels out to 54m. Because we had meticulously planned the project, everything went to plan and there wasn’t anything to complicated about the lifts.”

strength fine grain steel, is connected to the carrier frame by a triple-row roller bearing slew-ring.

The engine is a DaimlerChrysler OM 502 LA. This Tier III compliant diesel engine is rated at 530 horsepower. The pump distribution gearbox has five variable displacement axial piston pumps, a silencer with a spark arrestor, and gear pumps.

The tracks of the Demag CC 2800 – 1 are powered by two hydraulic motors each through closed planetary gear reduction units running in oil baths. Both tracks are equipped with spring-applied hydraulically released holding brakes. The gear units were designed compactly to fit inside of the width of the crawler. The four hydraulic assembly jacking cylinders are found on the car body for easy assembly of the crawlers and fold to a 3m width.

“The CC2800-1 crane is great to work with and features excellent charts. It is user friendly and smooth to operate and is ideal for this type of bridge construction work,” said Greenwood.

The initial stages of the project saw the Terex Demag CC2800-1 installing precast concrete girders and installing precast concrete deck panels, with the heaviest girder weighing 138t.