Road widening means bridge demolition

Two heavy Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers have been used to demolish a bridge on the A40 autobahn at Junction 28 in Gelsenkirchen-Süd, Germany. The bridge was used to carry the four lanes of the A40 over the B277 main road. As the key route in the Ruhr district, the A40 is being widened to incorporate six lanes, so the old bridge needed to be demolished.
February 24, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Two heavy 161 Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers have been used to demolish a bridge on the A40 autobahn at Junction 28 in Gelsenkirchen-Süd, Germany. The bridge was used to carry the four lanes of the A40 over the B277 main road. As the key route in the Ruhr district, the A40 is being widened to incorporate six lanes, so the old bridge needed to be demolished.

Viersen-based Prangenberg & Zaum had only two days to complete the demolition, commissioned by 945 Strabag. The contractor has a number of Atlas Copco breakers in its fleet and opted to use heavy-duty hammers from the firm for the demolition work, a 7tonne HB7000, a 5.8tonne HB5800 and a 2.5tonne HB2500. Using these tools the solid reinforced concrete bridge and bridge heads were removed in about 32 hours. A pulveriser crushed the demolition waste while it was still on site and the waste was then transferred to Prangenberg & Zaum's recycling station for further processing. The total volume of the demolition project was 2,300m3 of concrete with steel reinforcement and the breakers performed reliably while carrying out the work.

The A40 runs from Straelen on the Dutch border, over the Rhine and across the Ruhr region to Dortmund and is the main arterial road in the Ruhr. Around 120,000 vehicles/day travel around the city of Bochum at peak times, meaning the A40 carries the heaviest traffic in the Ruhr region.

Work on gradually widening the motorway to six lanes was begun in 2010 and should be completed in 2012.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Highly relevant: Denmark’s asset management for bridges
    July 12, 2019
    A well-maintained road bridge network is vital to Denmark’s economy. David Arminas caught up with Niels Pedersen, head of bridges at the Danish Road Directorate Denmark, being a country mainly of islands, relies on its bridges and tunnels to help unify the nation culturally. It also means that they are vastly more important to the economic well-being of the nation than in most other states. The World Bank has classified Denmark as a high-income economy. In 2017 it ranked 16th globally in terms of gros
    Read More
  • Transylvania Motorway: route to prosperity
    July 4, 2012
    Work is progressing apace on the biggest infrastructure project in Europe, the Transylvania Motorway or Autostrada Transilvania (A3) in Romania, with completion scheduled for 2013. The four-lane, 415km motorway, stretching northwest from Brasov in central Romania, at an altitude of nearly 600m, will reach the country's northwestern border with Hungary at Oradea in Câmpia Crisanei at 130m above sea level, and will connect the cities of Brasov, Fagaras, Sighisoara, Târgu Mures, Cluj-Napoca, Zalau and Oradea.
    Read More
  • Concrete buster tools
    August 4, 2020
    Eprioc has introduced three new CB Concrete Busters for heavy foundation work and high reach demolition. Meanwhile, the firm’s sister company Erkat is now offering a new coupler system.
    Read More
  • Further new European pavers were launched at bauma 2013
    May 30, 2013
    Earlier this year several manufacturers announced new European asphalt pavers being launched at bauma 2013, but more surprises were in store at the show - Mike Woof writes. At the beginning of 2013 a number of manufacturers revealed new asphalt pavers being launched at the bauma 2013 exhibition. BOMAG, Caterpillar, Vögele and Volvo CE all announced new asphalt pavers in the shape of the BF900, AP300D, -3 Series units and new wheeled P-6870C respectively. These machines were at the show and all attracted con
    Read More

Highlighted Content