GIANTS IN GERMANY: Mega cranes - Heavyweights in Action | WELT Documentary

Mega cranes in action three Monster Machines One mission installing railroad Bridges a tandem lift involving two mobile cranes and complications if the weight distribution isn't even the load can end up swinging they communicate via radio I can't understand a gigantic lattice spoon crawler crane alarm while lifting out a bridge [Music] from up here I didn't notice that something shook erratic weather while lifting in the new bridge a gust of wind has caused the bridge to twist unexpectedly and making adjustments with muscle power [Music] a crane is deployed to a wind farm by yaffa near the North Sea Coast it was erected in 2002 and it's now showing signs of age the rotor Hub of this wind turbine has to be replaced at a height of 97 meters cranes were used on the job one of them this monster a leap year LTM 1750 the largest mobile crane permitted to drive on German roads with mounted telescopic boom it can lift up to 750 tons and with an additional lattice luffing jib fitted has an impressive maximum working height of 152 meters the gross weight of the nine axle giant 108 tons 12 per axle now it's needed on another job site but because of its size 22 meters long three meters wide and 4 meters high it's only allowed to drive on the road between 10 pm and 6 am [Music] it's just before 10 o'clock at night the driver arrives qualified welder banned icewood cell has been a crane operator since 1995 and has been operating the 750-ton crane since 2014. I'm now driving from Eva toward flensburg where a railroad bridge is to be installed with a second large crane the eight-cylinder diesel engine of the monster crane produces 680 horsepower four axles are driven and all nine are steerable it's just under 370 kilometers to Flint's book but the telescopic crane has to make 30 kilometers of detours because some of the roads are off limits for it well because the road surface would subside or the curbs break away Dundas plus there are many bridges and route that can't take the weight of 108 tons ill has eight hours to cover the 400 kilometers it sounds like plenty of time but it could get tight there could be an accident and we could get stuck in a traffic jam the crane could break down a tire blowout or something we could get stopped by the police to make matters worse the mobile crane can't drive around Hamburg but has to go right through downtown so band Eiffel still has a long night ahead of him his destination a building site on the b-200 the West flintsport Bypass two weeks ago there was a railroad bridge here it had to be demolished because it was no longer reparable the new bridge is to be erected by several companies working in close cooperation and under enormous time pressure we'll start at the crack of dawn tomorrow with the foundations then continue with the abutment elements and finally lift the bridge into place on Monday so that normal rail service can resume here by the end of the month because it's rush hour on the multi-lane highway the cranes cannot take up position yet 6 pm the b-200 is now closed in both directions the crew of The Crane Company moves the barriers out of the way so that the Convoy of heavy trucks and cranes can access the building site leading the way another giant crane the liebhair LG 1550 a mobile lattice crane whose booms can only be assembled once on site built in 1992 it's the last of its kind still in service in Germany the LTM 1750 telescopic crane now also takes up its position on the building site both cranes need to be fully operational by Daybreak band Eiffel first extends the front Outriggers they're not yet in the correct position the crane operator now swings out the cab from where he will control the hoisting work toward the adjacent Footbridge the first task to raise the gigantic telescopic boom foreign it would be under the Footbridge and he wouldn't be able to raise it anymore so we're raising it now before continuing to the designated point bent just has another meter to go [Music] right on the mark next the crane has to be leveled bent extends each of the four hydraulic jacks until the crane is horizontal in all directions the whole procedure is remote controlled this year is the Bubble Level and the dot is right in the center so now it's level these numbers here serve as a guide in the meantime bounce colleagues have fitted the hook block assembly now the LTM 1750 can rig itself the first add-ons are the rear Outriggers weighing four and a half tons a piece they couldn't remain attached to the crane during transit or they would have made the vehicle too heavy for the road once the workers have securely attached the Outriggers to the crane with a bolt they connect the hydraulic and electrical systems [Music] to make sure the crane remains stable when lifting the heavy loads pads are placed under the Outriggers to save on transport weight they aren't made from solid steel but hollow inside with reinforcing partition walls as such they each weigh just two tons [Music] extends the hydraulic jacks of the Outriggers the Crane's wheels are lifted off the ground it's Now supported solely by the four Outriggers that form a square 12 meters by 12 meters in size crane still underweights for the hoisting work just the base plate for the ballast which the crane operator now lowers in place weighs 11 tons [Music] then the ballast plates are installed the smaller ones weigh 5 tons the larger ones 10 tons to attach the blocks to the hook the crew use a ballasting spike [Music] that's the spike that supports the ballast it's inserted into the Triangular hole and locked in place my colleague inserts the spike and it goes all the way until it can't go any further foreign and now it's locked it latches in place and then the ballast is ready to be lifted it takes five heavy Hull transports just to bring the ballast for the telescopic mobile crane [Music] the second Mega crane on the building site the LG 1550 needs an auxiliary Crane in order to load the ballast and rig the lattice boom the LG 1550 can lift a maximum of 550 tons 200 less than the telescopic crane this only applies if the load is right in front of the crane though at minimum reach but the lattice boom crane has an advantage when it comes to larger reaches this is because the lattice design of the LG 1550s boom makes it much stiffer foreign the ballast is loaded now the lattice boom is rigged the section being lifted by the auxiliary crane is 14 meters long to attach the section requires the help of a hydraulic power pack [Applause] the eyes of the lattice boom element must line up exactly with those of the heel section then the Hydraulics come into play The Ram is positioned against the pins and drives them through the eyes a retaining clip secures the pin in place suddenly there's an interruption private vehicles have ignored the roadblock and driven right into the construction site Mavericks like these are nothing new for mock band Schneider he sounds the alarm yeah yeah okay thanks yeah okay bye you have on even two cars were just here saying that the roadblock was open the site supervisor is going to take a look I can't believe it because the highway department closed the road at 6 PM it's likely they drove around the barrier then they get here claiming there weren't any signs or they were pushed aside it's nothing new another heavy hauler arrives at the building site it's carrying a component for the telescopic crane the power pack the 300 horsepower motor for the so-called revolving superstructure [Music] sets the 23-ton unit down between the ballast plates it will later drive the cable winches when lifting the heavy loads and provide hydraulic pressure for the telescopic boom the weight of the power pack base plate and ballast plates now totals 204 tons but the package is still sitting on the carrier bent must now pick it up with the superstructure we've just raised the power pack so we can turn the superstructure under it then we lower the power pack again it then hangs off the back of the superstructure it's then used to raise the ballast again the telescopic crane would normally be fully rigged now but because the bridge to be lifted weighs an enormous 260 tons it needs an additional add-on the so-called why guying system it's the only thing that the telescopic crank cannot fit itself it requires the help of the auxiliary crane the 20-ton y guying system attaches to the boom of the crane and increases its lifting capacity [Music] the final rigging job reeving the four and a half ton load block for the lift thanks to the pulley principle the crane only needs to generate a tenth of the force as a result [Music] the crane operator now raises the telescopic Boom the y-arm pretensions bracing it towards the ballast and doesn't deflect as much when lifting heavy loads foreign [Music] the rigging of the crane is now complete [Music] seven kilometers to the north of the job site the bridge that the cranes will be installing is standing by at a rest stop the so-called trough bridge is 46 meters long eight meters wide three and a quarter meters high and weighs 267 tons a structural steelworks engineering company built the bridge in sections and then welded them together here this bridge was delivered in four sections two left and two right this here's the transverse Weld and there's a longitudinal weld running along the center it's taken around four weeks to weld and we're now at the final stages at the moment the bridge is still resting on so-called elephant feet the crew of a Heavy Haul company will now load it onto a modular transport trailer with 32 axles the men don't need a crane for this as the platform can be raised hydraulically there's one snag though the problem is that the parking lot slopes down in One Direction so to make the bridge level we made the foundations thicker on one side but now the trailer is standing on an inclined parking lot which means the distance the bridge is greater on one side than the other so we need to raise the left hand side and add an extra wooden block so that we can then set the bridge down as an angle to the road level then we pick out the entire Bridge with the trailer at this angle of this first the transport trailer is raised up hydraulically then a layer of supports is removed from the left elephant foot the trailer is lowered again a Timber is removed from the left side and the chassis raised again with one layer of Timbers on the left and right the bridge is Clear All That Remains is to secure the load in place with the tensioning chains okay the bridge is ready for transport [Music] the next morning construction of the bridges foundations Begins the foundation plates have already been lifted into place along with the first section of the abutment the construction workers now have to fill the three centimeter gap between the concrete elements they use an expanding cement for this it spreads out beneath the Precast element [Music] to prevent the mortar from flowing out the sides a rigid foam seal is fitted to each section of the foundation the intermediate spaces are filled once the cement oozes out of the vents before the next element is lowered into place the workers first have to grind off the filler tubes the next one a 50 prefabricated elements weighing a hefty 70 tons is waiting the workers attach it with lifting eyes these capture the dog bone anchors that are cast into the concrete the lifting can begin [Music] slowly but surely it's bound to aishwitz's motto he Now controls his crane based solely on the instructions he receives via radio from the signal man stop a bit further forward stop bounce neck up means raise the boom this causes the load to move slightly upward and toward the crane stop which means lower the load down slowly which means down with the load foreign the precast concrete section is now suspended almost exactly above the one beneath it the signal man wants to know if it's resting on anything 70 tons minus five so 65. something's stopping it it's not happening it's caught somewhere the concrete section has gotten tilted neck up please a new attempt down all the way that is lower the load completely the bubble levels say everything fits correctly now perfect [Music] the next heavy hauler is already waiting one of 42 bringing the precast concrete sections to the job site at half hourly intervals but before the next lift the workers first have to cement the newly placed element with the one below it using expanding concrete another incident at the building site several private vehicles have sneaked in despite the highway being closed it's amazing isn't it amazing the road is closed but someone drives in followed by three others that have no business being here like on Friday when two cars suddenly appeared here like there's a herd mentality or something as a rooted building seven kilometers to the north the gigantic railroad bridge that is to be lifted into place by the cranes begins its Journey to the building site it's 46 meters long three meters 25 High eight meters wide and weighs a colossal 267 tons together with the push and pull tractor units the complete rig is 72 meters long because there are a total of seven Bridge structures on Route and to minimize the risk of tipping over we're allowing roughly one and a half to two hours for the transit one of the structures on the way has been strengthened to prevent damage as it's not strong enough to support a weight of 454 tons because of its width the transport needs to use both lanes of the highway strict conditions apply it only travels forward at walking pace the escort crew must constantly check that the sides of the bridge don't hit anything the men have a long walk ahead of them [Music] back at the construction site everything is prepared for lifting the railroad bridge into place in order for it to be adjusted to the correct height it has to rest on these adjustable Jack posts this is where the superstructure will be placed the bearings will go in here later there are extra bolts down below here you can see the formwork and rebar and that will be filled with concrete when everything's okay and once the concrete has set the bridge will be fixed in position meanwhile The Heavy Haul rig with the bridge has arrived before the lifting begins there's a briefing between the signal man and the crane operators okay a couple of things we won't communicate using names but axes oh oh that'll be tricky bant is Axis 20 and that's axis 10. so how do we want to do it 10 you slew in there and he slews out you can work it out between yourselves okay we'll work it out the crew of the steelworks engineering company now attached the steel ropes to the hoisting eyes of the bridge using massive shackles and secures them with bolts and retaining clips The Operators of the telescopic and lattice boom cranes now take up the strain as uniformly as possible precise coordination between the crane operators is now crucial so that both lift in concert if the weight isn't distributed evenly the load may end up swinging and the transport modules could also get damaged if too much weight is focused in one place foreign [Music] can you take your left entered ah looks pretty good from here that is take up the strain until each crane has 50 tons on the hook 130 . 130 tons each the ideal weight distribution for a tandem lift just a tiny bit of the Bridge's 267 tons of weight is left the crew of the Transport company now lowers the platform [Music] done the bridge is now suspended freely and the tractor can pull the transport platform out from underneath it the Y arms attached to the telescopic crane ensured that the boom only deflects slightly the mobile lattice crane doesn't need additional guying for a load this size because the lattice boom is intrinsically stiffer the two cranes now turn the bridge so the ends face the foundations can I make it over the railing there the cranes have to maneuver slowly to prevent the bridge from swinging [Music] it's time the telescopic crane lowers its boom the ends of the bridge are now suspended directly above the two abutments stop the two massive cranes aren't able to perform the fine adjustment down to the millimeter so the crew of the steel Works engineering company have attached chain blocks to the bridge that they now use to align everything exactly the steel bolts on the bridge bearings have to go into the bearing cases but this doesn't succeed on the first go the reason is quickly discovered the rebar inside the formwork is in the way of the pins they're resting on them the next attempt one question I'm lifting my side again right now I can't understand I'm lifting my side again watch your fingers okay access 20 up please [Music] oh stop stop the workers use a crowbar to bend the rebar a little to the side so that the steel pins in the bridge bearing can pass by them [Music] all right both hooks down now the crane operators can lower the load again [Music] done the railroad bridge is now sitting in exactly the right position on the adjustable Jack posts of the foundations after a nearly two-hour tandem lift the two cranes have successfully completed their mission everyone worked really well together we managed to get the bearings into the rebar and the bridge is resting on the post points we just need to do some more fine adjustments and secure the bearings secure means cast the bearing in concrete for the crane operators and their Crews this means d-rig and pack everything back up they have to be at their next job site in three days time the buchenbach creek a tributary of the Moor River by afaltabach Northeast of Stuttgart the valley has been designated a nature reserve and this bridge is the only way to cross it it's used by the Suburban trains for now the fact is the 26 meter 100 year old steel structure is showing signs of fatigue and the bridge has had to be strengthened with additional metal struts several times already debate Nets a subsidiary of German Railways is responsible for the upkeep of railroad Bridges like this project manager Marco Henry's summarizes the situation The Authority responsible for Bridges won't allow any further retrofitting which means the bridge has to be demolished and if the bridge isn't removed the line could be closed swapping the bridge out is a complex task heavy machinery or cranes are not permitted into the conservation area as a result the engineers intend to operate from a staging area located 60 meters from the creek a specially constructed Plateau serves as the foundation for one of the most powerful cranes in Germany the lip hair LR 11000 the lattice boom crawler crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 1000 tons is to lift the old bridge out and set it down here on the asphalt but the crane is still missing its gigantic boom it has to be 96 meters long for this project the bridge lift is due to start in a few days time the project manager of the crane company is Mako Wilhelm this is our biggest crawler crane it was configured specifically for this deployment and satisfies all the safety criteria demanded for the job it's a special job for us too not the typical work we do and this man will operate the Behemoth Thomas klei has previously used the crane to erect wind turbines but a bridge lift is something special for him too everything is bigger and everything you lift is heavier you have to rely on the crew the radio signaler you need to work as a team for everything to go right there isn't much you can do with the Big Crane by yourself at the moment the crane is only fitted with the 42 meter long so-called Gantry its job is to brace the main boom using cables it will later be attached here and the entire bridge will be suspended from it the 170 ton superstructure ballast prevents the crane from tipping over with the Gantry mounted the counterweight for both booms is the Derrick ballast this is the so-called ballast tray it's a steel Trail in which the individual ballast plates are stacked because the boom itself is so heavy we need 165 tons of counterweight just to raise it and we'll stack it with 225 tons during the actual lift with this crane we can load up to 450 tons of ballast the main boom consists of several 18 meter long sections that the riggers have to assemble today to create the 96 meter long lattice boom it takes 40 truckloads to get all the parts for the crawler crane to the job site many of which are oversized heavy haulers that are rolling traffic obstructions [Music] the problem is trying not to hit anyone else most car drivers get pretty mad when my escort vehicle blocks a lane behind me at the job site but I need a bit more than just one lane a single boom section weighs as much as 10 compact cars for this reason a 250 ton auxiliary crane is used to help with unloading and assembly the crawler crane moves forward to be assembled its crawlers are 12 and a half meters long two meters 40 wide and weigh 67 tons each the crane travels on a bed of hardwood boards this helps to distribute its weight of several hundred tons over a greater area crane operator Thomas klei Maneuvers his crane based on instructions given by radio from outside the crawler crane doesn't have a steering wheel like a car travel forwards and backwards is controlled by foot pedals either both crawlers together or individually to steer science instructions over the radio there are also several cameras to help with orientation high-tech hardware and software make it possible to perform delicate tasks with such massive equipment you can control a crane more easily or more precisely than a PlayStation fitting the enormous section is precision work for the crane operator and crew eyes must be exactly aligned in order to join them together it would be impossible to drive the pins in by hand a hydraulic ram is used for this foreign it takes a whole day to assemble the 96 meter main boom of the lr11000 one of the largest lattice boom crawler cranes in the world the stretch of track where the bridges to be replaced has now been closed and the power turned off railroad workers dismantled the overhead power lines and prepared the old bridge for removal final preparations for the Mega crawler crane and it will soon be down to him crane operator Thomas cly this will be the first time he has to lift a bridge with the new crane rather than erect a wind turbine we're now positioning slings so we can safely attach the bridge for the lift later [Music] everything is prepared we're good to go foreign the railroad bridge will be later suspended from these chains they're made from a special hardened steel nylon ropes are used as extensions each can support a load of 50 tons the exact weight of the bridge is unknown Structural Engineers have calculated it to be roughly 63 tons as always with such old bridges you can't know for sure that it's really correct which is what safety margins are for I always add a safety margin when doing dismantling work so it'll be all right the weight of the load and the distance the crane is operating at determines how much counterweight is needed it will only be attached to the crane shortly before the lift and remains on the ground for the time being because the crane won't be able to move afterwards it Maneuvers to the lift position now a bit further slow a bit and stop stop the positions of the counterweight and crane were precisely determined beforehand everything was worked out theoretically on the computer of course everything was planned out so everything will hopefully go without a hitch in practice only once the bridge is suspended on the hook will the crane operator know its actual weight his colleagues can then increase or decrease the ballast if necessary final preparations on the bridge some ties still have to be removed to make room for attaching the chains we just need four people to pull the chains apart and attach them then we can get started the chains are fed around the steel cross members and the ends secured using large shackles fitted with bolts now everything is ready for the lift you're always a bit on edge I mean you have to have respect for the job you're doing but you're always a bit on edge the crane takes up the strain [Music] okay let's get off the bridge all right the bridge doesn't budge it's stuck due to the tension on the chains it's under considerable strain too alarm the automatic shutoff of the most powerful Crane in service in Germany has been triggered [Music] the reason for the alarm the ground in the area of the ballast tray isn't completely level when the tray was raised the crane reported a fault resulting in the emergency shutdown the ballast attachment is adjusted and the problem solved and minutes later the second attempt rope up again [Music] good it's coming good okay [Music] the mega crawler crane now swings the bridge across the nature reserve the counterweight is no longer resting on the ground but is suspended in the air and can swing Along with the crane in order to set the bridge down at the right location on the staging area the crane has to relocate by 10 meters the tension in crane operator Thomas klei gradually subsides from his cab 60 meters away he never even noticed that at first the bridge had jammed from up here I have no idea when something gets caught a little or jammed I didn't notice anything jerking [Music] okay Thomas lower a bit more set it down so it doesn't twist anymore right on target once on the ground the workers immediately get started dismantling the bridge working from bottom to top [Music] the steel in the century-old bridge will later be melted down and recycled [Music] some of the bridges are no doubt old and very beautiful but sadly they too reach the end of their lives at some stage that's just the way it is a yawning 28 meter Gap is left where until now the railroad bridge spanned the buchenbach valley and this needs to be closed as soon as possible so that the trains can run again two days later today a temporary bridge is to be placed across the buchenbach valley prefabricated concrete elements that are attached to the old foundation with metal anchors serve as the beam seats a steel girder is placed on top the new bridge is due to be lowered down in one hour [Music] everything must be absolutely perfect we're working to almost millimeter precision and the temporary Bridge has a high intrinsic weight roughly 90 tons so everyone needs to know exactly what they're doing when the bridge is lifted in and that's got to be planned in detail meanwhile the old bridge has been largely dismantled the new one consists of two segments one for each track their weight 45 tons per segment at the moment conditions for the lift are ideal the construction supervisor is optimistic the weather conditions are very good Sunny with hardly any wind ideal for this kind of job in fact up to now at least the mega crane swings the bridge section toward the railroad tracks the workers on the foundation are waiting to secure it in place [Music] everything's going according to plan and then suddenly the wind picks up this leads to unexpected complications [Music] a gust of wind has caused the bridge to twist unexpectedly and because the bridge isn't the same on both sides it has to be installed the right way around so the bridge needs to be rotated by 180 degrees this can only be done using the control ropes that are hanging down from the ends of the bridge but the ends of the Rope are on the wrong sides of the Gap a decision is needed quickly [Music] he's getting another rope we'll tie them together then attach them to your Carabiner down there and then run it over to the other side where they can bullet to turn the bridge that's the best solution do you think or do you have another idea no one does so the workers transferred their control rope to the crew on the other side of the Ravine and vice versa and then it's time to rotate the bridge using muscle power [Music] foreign [Music] easily now [Music] done the bridge segment can now be lowered [Music] it arrived the wrong way around but we've rotated it in the air so now it's facing the right direction the crane lowers the bridge centimeter by centimeter toward the foundation the bridge is now suspended between the old foundations that's where it goes for the fine adjustment work the teams on both sides have to precisely coordinate their activities yes nope stop Thomas how does it look on your end I'm centered with the rail now Thomas lower slowly can someone go down there please so we can push it a bit from Below okay stop Thomas I'm still centered are you still lined up with your rail energy Thomas flew a little bit more to go a little bit to the right [Music] it's roughly centered my end now 10 . okay by me I was told that you over there need to adjust how far it is from the abutment [Music] real slow in this case raising the boom will cause the bridge segment to move to the left [Music] okay it's coming that's great keep going keep going lower real slow stop a sec one of the workers goes onto the bridge because of the risk of falling he Clips his harness onto a safety rope with a carabiner he has to run a nylon cord to the other side it will help the supervisors to align the bridge segment so that the track runs exactly in the center later because the crane lifting points are also attached exactly in the center of the bridge the nylon cord has to run through the shackles too once the cord has reached the other side the fine adjustment of the bridge segment begins it's still a fraction too far to the left three millimeters a Tiny correction by the crane operator and the bridge segment sits in exactly the right position foreign the mega crawler crane the LR 11000 now has to lift in the second bridge segment crane operator Thomas cly slews the crane around and simultaneously drives forward toward the ravine then it's time for a break because when he lowers the boom toward the bridge job site The Leverage forces increase to counteract this effect the auxiliary crane has to add more ballast we'll be ready to go in a moment the guides are climbing down from the ballast and then I'll raise the battles and drive forward Thomas drives the crane as far as he can on the wooden planks toward the Ravine so that he doesn't have to lower the boom any more than necessary aligning the second bridge segment is somewhat easier the crew can use the first segment as a reference now is that the steel connectors fit snugly in between the two segments they have to be fixed on both sides with bolts cotter pins are used to secure them in place once the spacers are fitted to both sides of the Bridge the workers installed the remaining connectors where it's too tight they use a spreading device similar to a car jack it takes over an hour before the bridge segments are securely joined together then they're welded to the steel Foundation girders the workers just have to lay the tracks on the bridge and install the overhead power line then the trains can run here once again [Music] the complicated task of swapping an old dilapidated railroad bridge for a two-section temporary Bridge has been successfully completed a challenging lift for everyone involved [Music] when you always do wind turbines you get into a certain routine as the procedure is always the same the workflow for a project like this is completely different and that makes it a whole new challenge for the crew but Thomas clay and the other Crane Company workers can't put their feet up just yet tomorrow they have to completely de-rig the crawler crane again then they'll head to the next job site the mega crane will return in a few years then the temporary bridge will have to make way for a new Steel Bridge only once it has been lifted into place can the staging area in the Nature Reserve be decommissioned [Music]

Channel: WELT Documentary

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Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, hd documentaries, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, full length documentaries, documentary film, top documentaries, reports, factual film, mega, cranes, giants, germany, heavyweights, action, steel monster, monster, lifter, weightlifter, monster machines, bridge, railroad, telescopic crane, LTM 17-50, rear outrigger, hydraulic, heavy loads, counterweights, LG 1550, power pack, superstructure

Id: otC5I4EMqqE

Length: 50min 18sec (3018 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 18 2022