MBU 60-1,8 to Limburg/Germany
In Limburg/Germany the existing bridge called “Lahntalbrücke” was recently replaced. In this replacement build a permanently installed traveler was included in the design, which was to provide access to the center section of the underside of the bridge making inspection and maintenance work possible.
This is precisely where the MOOG Company came into play, by once again prevailing against the competition in the bidding process. Thus in April 2017 the traveler, which was specially manufactured to meet the customer requirements, was installed under the new Lahntalbrücke and put into operation.
The under-bridge traveler runs on rails that were included into the bridge structure under the bridge along the center of the deck. The parking position of the machine was also taken into account in the bridge design, so that it can be parked protected inside the abutment in a kind of garage.
The traveler’s platform is 19 ft. 8 in. long, 5 ft. 10 in wide and can be loaded with up to 550 lbs. In order to ensure safe access to the top, an alplift with a working height of maximum 22 ft. 11 in. was installed on the work platform, which can be moved manually on the platform in the longitudinal direction. In addition, an additional platform was installed next to the approach tower in order to be able to service the rails, motors and chassis of the under-bridge access unit from there.
The bridge traveler installed under the Lahntalbrücke is only intended for the inspection and maintenance of the “middle deck”. If required, access to the box girders and the edge beams would be possible by using mobile MOOG under-bridge access devices from the bridge deck, which can be rented from various rental companies.
The training for the operation of the machine took place in August 2017.
