Refurbishing
Railway bridge
Aarsleff Rail A/S gave the railway bridge in Aalborg a facelift. The old bridge from 1928 is now equipped with new machinery, control system and a strengthened superstructure.
2015-2017 Aarsleff Rail renovated the railway bridge over Limfjorden - a traffic bottleneck in North Jutland.
The renovation task on the 403 m long bridge contained several elements and included new machinery, new control system and reinforcement of the movable bridge segment. Over the years the bridge's lifting mechanism had become worn by the 10,000 annual crossings. At the same time the Danish Maritime Authority and Banedanmark had a common wish that the bridge could open in stronger winds.
Offshore conditions and difficult logistics
The renovation offered many logistical challenges. For example, the bridge has only one track, our only transport route, and since the entire work area was in the middle of Limfjorden, storage and work areas were very limited. The offshore location also made the project very dependent on the weather as we had to comply with special wind rules for the bridge. As an additional challenge, a bridge pillar was hit by a ship during the project. We therefore unexpectedly received an additional task with realigning the bridge abutment.
A railway project
During most of the work the bridge was in full operation, being used by trains between Aalborg and Lindholm as well as the crossing ship traffic on the Limfjord. Our extensive experience of working on railways under difficult logistical conditions was crucial to meeting the demands of the contract. We used our rail vehicles for transport and a 70-tonne trolley equipped with crane was a great help when we lifted steel elements and machine parts into place.
Thorough renewal
To enable the bridge to open in stronger wind we reinforced the moving bridge segment and lifting mechanism with stronger steel. In connection with this the bridge was surface treated and the moving bridge segment rebalanced. The entire lifting machinery was thoroughly renewed. All mechanical parts were replaced: motors, gears, electric systems and control panels. As a pilot project for Banedanmark, the control system of the bridge's opening mechanism was converted from a traditional relay control system to a new and modern PLC-system.
FACTS
- 19 t steel reinforcement
- 500 m2 surface treatment
- 32 t of new ballast to supplement the bridge’s counterweight
- A new complete PLC-control system
- 2 new electrical motors for the bridge’s moving segment
- 2 new lifting gears.
Client
Banedanmark
Contractor
Aarsleff Rail A/S
Subcontractors
HSM Industri
Intego
Aalborg Stilladser
Type of contract
Main contract
Consultant
Niras A/S
Kirkholm Maskiningeniør
Construction period
January 2016-February 2017