December 2018

Motorway bridge

The Svilja bridge is part of an international, pan-European road corridor. Prangl provided the large crane required.

Country:Bosnia-Herzegovina

City:Donji Svilaj

Date:November 2018 – February 2019

Sales:Tomica Erjavec
Franz List

The challenge

Lifting massive bridge segments

Road corridor 5c is part of the European motorway network and connects Northern Europe with the Adriatic Sea. The bridge is 660 metres long and 29 metres wide. The task assigned to Prangl was to lift 8 bridge segments, each weighing up to 225 tonnes, with lengths of 51 metres and widths of 6.5 metres.

Our solution

650 tonne crawler crane at the centre of it all

The new bridge over the Sava is the meeting point of the motorway networks of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the final expansion stage, there will be three lanes and one hard shoulder in each direction. A footpath is also provided. A 650-tonne crawler crane from Prangl was used to make this a reality. 50 lorries were used to move all crane components to the building site. A logistical feat. When fully assembled, the large crane (without load) weighed around 900 tonnes.

Cross-border cooperation

One of the special features of this contract was that the crawler crane was first stationed on the Bosnian building site side. As Bosnia-Herzegovina is not in the EU, all procedures and methods were different and new. It was Prangl’s first assignment in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Everything went perfectly thanks to the preparations of the Croatian Prangl team. Once again, Prangl showed that it was able to find its way anywhere quickly and that it has solutions for local conditions to hand.

Plateau in the Sava as large crane base

A plateau to be used as the large crane’s base and driving surface was built as a peninsular in the Sava. Due to the constant risk of flooding, the general condition of the plateau was monitored permanently in addition to the water level. During the Christmas shutdown, the crane was moved to a level not prone to flooding.

Huge challenge for the crane team

The storage location for the prefabricated bridge girders was barely 100 metres from the actual transfer point. Therefore, the yellow monster with a total weight of 1,125 tonnes (including load) had to be moved every time. Furthermore, an individually planned and prepared sling had to be assembled for each bridge element. The on-site crane team was responsible for all of these tasks.

Brilliant cooperation by the international team

It did not just lift. The crawler crane lifted the bridge elements into position, where it held them in the air for between half a day and a whole day so that they could be aligned precisely. The corresponding bridge segment was only set down and welded in after this. The international team proved its worth excellently during all stages of the work. Colleagues from Slovenia, Croatia and Austria worked perfectly together right from the planning phase. Once again, we have shown that Prangl can provide its internationally-renowned service in all locations.