Projects Solutions and Equipment Rental & Transport were both recently involved in a triumphant operation on behalf of our long-standing client, bridge building company Aelterman. Aelterman has trusted Sarens’ services and expertise for decades, and turned to us for both the construction and installation of the new Wijnegem bridge over the Albert Canal. The bridge is intended to improve sustainable road connections for both pedestrians and cyclists.

First, Sarens Rentals provided project leadership and crane rental for the bridge’s construction at Aelterman’s workshops in Ghent. We provided high-tech equipment for the bridge’s assembly: well-chosen and efficient LTM 1500-8.1 and AC500 cranes that made it possible to execute the necessary lifts in a record two-day period.

Next, Sarens Projects coordinated and executed the bridge transport and installation operation along the Albert Canal from Ghent to Wijnegem. Unlike all the other arched bridges Sarens has placed along the canal, this one was different in that we could transport it, fully assembled, from Aelterman’s workshops to the installation site at Wijnegem. 

In the past, Sarens had to account for limited bridge heights along the canal, transporting each bridge and its arches separately via pontoon and later assembling them on site. This time, however, the raised bridges at the beginning of the Albert Canal made it possible to manoeuvre the fully welded and painted structure at a clearance height of 9,10 metres. The fully-assembled bridge measured 88 metres long, 18 metres wide, and 9 metres high.

To do this successfully, however, Sarens first had to perform a few operations:

• Using 4 x 10-axle lines of SPMTs, we drove the bridge from Aelterman’s ateliers to a rented pontoon.
• Next, the pontoon travelled across the Scheldt to the port of Antwerp, where our twin barge, the Karel-Victor, had arrived just in time from its previous work in Duisburg.
• We drove the bridge from the 90-metre pontoon onto the Karel-Victor, dropping off and then jacking it until it laid on the deck. We used braces to create a heavy connection between the bridge and deck, since the pushers could only push against the bridge.

With everything secured, Sarens could successfully manoeuvre underpasses like the one below the Teunis bridges in Antwerp, where the new bridge’s ends were suspended in the water and the Karel-Victor, with a freeboard of 40cm, passed slowly below with minimal clearance. In order to manoeuvre well on the canal, pushboats were attached to both ends.

Arriving at the installation site, Sarens jacked the bridge on the canal side, with the canal only partially barred. After three days of jacking, the bridge was at the correct height and installation work could begin. 

For this final part of the operation, the canal was completely closed to all shipping traffic for a 12-hour period. Sarens connected anchor cables to both banks and, using winches, positioned the Karel-Victor to within the nearest centimetre at the provided jacking points. With the right positioning in place, the bridge could then be installed.

Sarens is pleased to have executed a successful operation for our long-standing client, and look forward to the rewarding challenges that come next!