'Round-the-World Journey' from Wijhe to Woerden
A lot of obstacles
This might not seem like a big deal, but it was actually quite a challenge. The deck was 10.5 metres wide and 15 metres long and weighed over 34 metric tons. And driving down the street with a 10.5-metre-wide load is a challenge indeed – there is no shortage of obstacles such as lamp posts, traffic signs and trees.
Vertical transport
So the transport specialists at Wagenborg Nedlift came up with a clever solution: transporting the bridge deck vertically. This avoided the need for extensive traffic measures along the route, while saving trees at the same time. An elegant solution that combines sustainability with efficiency!
Firmly secured
Transporting an 11-metre-high bridge deck upright posed quite a lot of technical challenges. Heavy support beams were mounted on the trailer to secure the deck in its vertical position during transport, so that it was held safely in place between them.
A round-the-world journey
This was the start of a ‘round-the-world journey’. From the production site located in Wijhe in Overijssel, the bridge deck was transported upright to the quayside. From the quayside, it was transferred to a pontoon headed towards Amsterdam, where the deck was stored temporarily. The bridge deck was picked up in Amsterdam once it was ready to be moved again. It was then transported, still upright, to Bodegraven by inland vessel via the Fixed Mast route. Here the deck was offloaded and transported in a vertical position by road to the Kwakel Bridge location in Woerden, where a mobile telescopic crane lifted it into place.
A prime example of excellence in heavy transport!
Watch the project pictures here!
Regional broadcaster RTV Oost made a fine report on the transport operation in Wijhe, November 2020
Reportage RTV Oost brugtransport Wijhe
Watch the transport movie from Bodegraven to Woerden here!
Audiovisual company TTS Woerden produced a nice movie on the lifting works of the balance parts of the bridge