INTERNATIONAL ANDSPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
MARCH 2015
34
SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
UK-based transport companyRJ& IWells
helpedwith the removal of several bridge
beams from a railwaybridge in the city
centreofManchester,UK.
The bridge removal was part of a
£1billion (US$1.5billion) investment in
the rail infrastructure in theNorthWest
of theUK.
Theproject includes raising theheight
of one of the bridges over the railway
linewhich connectsManchesterwith
Stalybridge andWest Yorkshire. The line
is due toundergo electrification.
The bridgedeckwasmadeupof
approximately 80 steel and concrete
beams, eachmeasuring18metres
long. The beams formed two spans
over the railway andweighed around
30 tonnes each.
For removal, theywereprised apart
with the aidof an excavator fittedwith a
hydraulichammer.Once eachbeamhad
been separated from thedeck, theywere
fittedwith chains and liftedout by two
500 tonne cranes fromUK crane rental
companyAinscough.
The beamswhere then loadedonto a
low loader from transport company
TheRochdaleRoad
KWS Infra put its first 4-axleNooteboom
MCOS-58-04(EB) hydraulically
steered semi low loader trailer towork.
Nooteboom upgraded the hydraulic
steering to increase the steering angle
to 45 degrees. They can carry loads up
to 47 tonnes and are equippedwith the
SMART programme and have either a
fixed or extendible load floor. In addition,
the load floor has been strengthened for
the transport of machineswith a highly
concentrated point load, such as road
planers, themanufacturer added.
UPGRADEDNOOTEBOOMS
FORKWS INFRA
RJ& IWells andmoved further down a
closed sectionof theRochdaleRoad site.
A fork lift truck from theWells fork
lift truck rental fleetwas used tounload
the beams and stack themup ready tobe
removed from site.
During the followingweekmost of the
beamswere transported to a facility in
Skelmersdale for recycling.
Theworkwas carriedout overnight,
withparts of thenewbridge installedon
the firstweekend, and the remainder of
thenewbridge installed the following
weekend. In addition to the installation
of thenewbeams the final 16beams
from the oldbridgewere removed from
theRochdale side of the bridge and
transported to Skelmersdale.
Theproject is part of anongoing
£38billion (US$58billion) investment
in theUK rail networkbyNetworkRail.
The latest MCOS hydraulically steered
semi low-loader for KWS Infra, a leader
in the road construction sector
The bridge deckwasmade up of approximately 80 steel and concrete beams,
each 18metres long
Ainscough supplied two 500 tonne cranes to
lift the beams onto the trailers
