e-mosty September 2018 Vessels and Equipment Used for Bridge Construction | Page 11

III. EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF VESSELS AND EQUIPMENT IN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
‘Taklift 4’ working at construction of Oosterschelde Bridge / Dam, The Netherlands
In September 1981 the self-propelled floating sheerleg
‘Taklift 4’ entered service with the Dutch towage and
salvage company Smit Salvage B.V. (now part of Boskalis
Offshore).
In 1982 the vessel was contracted by the Dutch Ministry
of Transport, Public Works and Water Management for
operations with the Delta Works - a series of storm surge
barrier construction projects in the southwest of the
Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the
Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea.
To perform this job the vessel was thoroughly adapted at
Merwede Shipyards, mainly to withstand extreme
currents at the construction site.
The storm surge barrier was officially opened by Queen
Beatrix on 4 th October 1986.
To construct the Oosterschelde bridge / dam, the ‘Taklift
4’ performed 508 lifts with a total weight of 500.000-ton,
comprising: 62 concrete road box girders, 130 hammer
pieces and 6 loading heads of road box girders, 62 slides,
124 actuating systems of slides, 62 sill bars and 62 upper
bars.
Furthermore 61,700-ton was lifted as side activities. The
hoisting capacity of the ‘Taklift 4’ was upgraded from
1,600-ton SWL to 2,200-ton SWL in 2010.
Figures 11 and 12: ´Taklift 4´ at Oosterschelde Bridge / Dam
Source: Rijkswaterstaat
Installation of the Brandanger Bridge in Norway by ‘Taklift 6’ and ‘Taklift 7’
In June 2009, the Dutch construction yard HSM Steel
Structures of Schiedam was awarded the contract for the
delivery and assembly of the steel network arch and
hangers for the Brandanger Bridge in Norway.
The installation of the 220m span network arch was
accomplished by tandem lift using the floating sheerlegs
‘Taklift 6’ and ‘Taklift 7’.Each has a lifting capacity of
1,200-tons, see Figures 13 – 16 on the following page.
The assembly took place at a yard in Norway. The length
of the structure is 300 metres with a main span of 220
metres, weight 400-tons.
3/2018