Two Liebherr 340 EC-B 16 flat-tops build the new Rahmede Valley Bridge

A 453-metre site with no room to spare

The Rahmede Valley Bridge is one of the more visible pieces of Germany’s motorway renewal programme. The original structure on the A45 — the Sauerland Line, a principal north–south corridor — was found to be structurally unsound and taken out of service; the replacement has been under construction since October 2023 and is reported to be running to schedule.

Two Liebherr 340 EC-B 16 flat-top cranes have covered the lifting on the 453-metre-long site. Both are erected on foundation anchors, one with a hook height of 61 metres and the other 65 metres, each carrying a 75-metre jib. Between them they reach the full length and width of the works, which is what allows concrete pours and steel assembly to run without repositioning the cranes.

From pier to deck slab

The pair have been on site from the start of foundation and substructure work, through the construction of the bridge’s eight main piers, the pre-assembly of steel components and on to the concreting of the deck slabs. Access is constrained — deliveries are tightly scheduled and there is limited laydown space in the valley — which puts a premium on cranes that can be mobilised and struck without a large support operation.

The EC-B series needs four transport units, and the Load-Plus function allows an on-demand increase in lifting capacity of up to 20 per cent where a particular lift calls for it. Dismantling was scheduled for autumn 2025.

Rental package rather than bare hire

BKL Baukran Logistik GmbH supplied both cranes from a rental fleet of more than 700 machines, and the scope went beyond delivery and erection: the company also handled technical planning and provided on-site support through the project. On an infrastructure job of this length that distinction matters, because crane positioning has to be resolved against the sequence of pier construction before the first foundation anchor is cast.

Flat-tops are the conventional answer on a site with two cranes working in overlapping radii — no tower head means the jibs can pass each other at closer vertical spacing than a saddle-jib arrangement would allow, which in a narrow valley is a practical rather than an academic advantage.

Source: Liebherr — Photos: Liebherr