Modern building requires cutting-edge working equipment. Accordingly, Schmidbauer, the expert from Nuremberg for heavy-duty tasks, relies on the Tadano ATF 220G-5 from the crane manufacturers TADANO from Lauf. Delivered only recently, the 220-t crane with its cutting-edge equipment is still seen as the benchmark within its class. Thus, Schmidbauer were ideally equipped for the crane work required in Emskirchen to replace the railway bridge dating back to 1936, with a new concrete bridge. This involved spanning the valley of the Aurach river over a length of 530 meters at 40 meters above ground level.
To be able to secure the gigantic formwork scaffolding on the existing bridge piers, a so-called falsework was inserted in notches specifically provided in the piers – an exacting task. Once each construction stage was complete, the task of the ATF 220G-5 consisted in dismantling the falsework and mounting it to the next bridge pier. To this effect, the ATF 220G-5 had to change position very frequently and move on the construction site “piggyback” including its 71 t counterweight. Andreas Tischer, crane operator of the new ATF 220G-5 was commissioned with this task and told us: “I even managed the ascent to the bridgehead with complete counterweight and the 14.00 R 25 basic tires, what I would normally have considered impossible.“
In the further process, the mobile crane equipped with a 68 main boom demonstrated that an efficient and powerful drive system is not the only thing that counts with TADANO. In operation, the ATF 220G-5 was required to lift the steel scaffolding parts each weighing 22.5 tons into position with a radius of just short of 18 m. According to Andreas Tischer, this was no problem for the ATF 220G-5, as the 22.5 tons had been released up to a radius of 24 m. Dismantling the previous bridge pier was more tricky. To lift the heavy steel scaffolding part off the falsework, telescoping in load condition was required. “The steel beam cannot be released without telescoping and exactly that is one of the strong points of the ATF 220G-5, which is a well-known fact,” Andreas Tischer points out.
Moreover, the crane manufacturer TADANO from Franconia have equipped the crane in operation at Emskirchen with the proven, power-efficient dual-engine concept. To this effect, the vehicle features a new-generation operator’s cab which will soon be characteristic of all TADANO mobile cranes. “The new cab is very smart and comfortable”, says operator Andreas Tischer.
The ATF 220G-5 is equipped with the safety feature Lift-Adjuster available exclusively from TADANO as standard. This equipment compensates the radius, which increases during load lifting operation due to the resulting deflection of the boom and thus prevents the risk of the load from oscillating.
Regarding the building project, the bridge is being renewed under the management of DB Projektbau GmbH. The railway line between Fürth and Würzburg is to be improved via this modern structure in terms of reducing the noise nuisance for local residents and achieving more efficient traveling speeds for the trains. Moreover, the continuous maintenance work caused by the unstable subsoil of the obsolete steel bridge is a thing of the past.
Schmidbauer GmbH & Co. KG
The Schmidbauer Group was established in 1932 and is a reliable and innovative expert for heavy-duty tasks. The company has made a name for itself in the field of moving and lifting extremely heavy loads. To this effect, it bundles industry- and customer-specific competences. The machine pool of the Schmidbauer Group with its cutting-edge cranes is used for customers’ most exacting projects. With a total of 250 mobile cranes at more than 20 subsidiaries all over the Federal Republic of Germany and a staff of approx. 500, the Schmidbauer Group is one of the frontrunners within its industry.”