Schares uses Enerpac cube jacks for railway bridge installation
29 September 2022Schares, a company specialising in lifting and moving heavy loads, has completed the installation of a double-track railway bridge in Oldenburg, Germany.
Schares employed Enerpac SCJ-100 cube jacks to raise and lower the bridge decks and parapet walls into their final position on the bridge bearings.
Schares used the cube jacks and a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) because the limited space would not allow the use of a mobile crane. In addition, this approach meant that the overhead power lines could remain untouched.
Each 17.3m-long prefabricated bridge deck, weighing 98 tonnes, was supported on the SPMT and brought to the construction site. Four SCJ-100 cube jacks were then used to gradually raise the bridge deck, and allow the removal of the SPMT and replacement with support jacks. The cube jacks were then placed on a support structure mounted on the SPMT and positioned under the deck. The bridge deck was raised up to 6.5m. By manoeuvring the SPMT, the deck was positioned horizontally, and reached its final resting position through the synchronised lowering of the cube jacks.
"The Enerpac SCJ-100 cube jacks were the right solution for this project," says Christoph Schares, managing director of Schares. "The load capacity, as well as the small footprint and installation height of the cube jacks with an up to 3m lifting height, made this project possible."
The Oldenburg-Wilhelmshaven railway line is being modernised to better connect the Wilhelmshaven container terminal to the national railway network.
