Spectacular bridge swap with two Liebherr LR 11000 crawler cranes
- cranehub
- Jul 24
- 5 min read
– Two LR 11000 models unload bridge sections from a ship in tandem lift
– Old concrete pipe bridge replaced with steel construction
– Fast project completion thanks to team effort, sophisticated logistics and reliable Liebherr cranes
As part of a complex infrastructure project, WASEL GmbH deployed two LR 11000 crawler cranes from Liebherr for a spectacular mission on the A42 between Bottrop and Essen. An old concrete pipe bridge needed to be replaced with a modern steel construction. The bridge connects refineries in the region with the Bottrop tank farm, crossing both the A42 and the River Emscher.
Ehingen (Donau) (Germany), 24 July 2025 - A total of seven Liebherr cranes were used on this complex project: in addition to the two 1,000-tonne crawler cranes for the bridge lifting operation, a 100-tonne mobile crane, an LTR 1220, an LTM 1230-5.1, an LTM 1250-5.1 and a 450-tonne crane were used for auxiliary and assembly work.
Ship unloading - tandem lift with a 220-tonne load
Project manager Viktor Hein from WASEL GmbH divided the project into two sections: in the first section, two new bridge segments - each weighing 220 tonnes and measuring 71 metres in length, 7 metres in width and 6 metres in height - were delivered by ship along the Rhine-Herne Canal. The two LR 11000 cranes then lifted the segments in precisely coordinated tandem lifts off the ship and placed them on a prepared pre-assembly area. The particular challenge with the first segment was to guide it between the two Liebherr LR 11000s with centimetre precision in order to place it in the intended position. For the second segment, it was sufficient to set the crawler cranes back around ten metres and place the component directly in front of the crawler cranes with pinpoint accuracy. For crane operator Florian Lauschke, the biggest challenge lay in unloading from the ship with a wide working radius: “The cranes worked brilliantly - as you would expect from Liebherr.”
The Liebherr LR 11000 models used were built in the SL11DBV setup configuration with 96 and 84-metre boom lengths. The worked with 130 tonnes of central ballast, 250 tonnes of turntable ballast and 450 or 340 tonnes of derrick ballast.
Break-up of the old and installation of the new in a narrow timeframe
In the second section, the existing pipe bridge was dismantled and the new steel bridge slotted into place. To do this, one of the two LR 11000 cranes was dismantled at the pre-assembly area, transported around 1,000 metres via the A42 and re-assembled on the motorway with a 72-metre main boom. When it came to dismantling the old pipe bridge, which comprised four concrete sections, steel corsets were used to avoid structural damage during the lifting operations. At the same time, the new bridge segments were transported on SPMT travel gear via the closed-off A42 to the installation site - ready for direct lifting and insertion. Viktor Hein is full of praise for the crawler cranes from Liebherr: “The two 1000tonners impressed throughout the entire mission with their high lifting capacity, but also with their agility. The operator and assembly-friendly design meant that we were able to relocate one of the two in the shortest possible time from the pre-assembly area to the assembly area via the motorway. The fact that the cranes were able to lift loads of up to 240 tonnes precisely and safely, even without any ballast pallet, significantly accelerated the speed of the project. The project was completed two days earlier than the five days that had been planned.”
The new bridge segments were manufactured by Schone & Bruns GmbH und Co. KG in Meppen and transported by ship via various waterways to the construction site. Project manager Günther Lohaus highlights the importance of early planning: “The aim was to close off the motorway for as short a time as possible. The close cooperation with WASEL, a detailed logistics and assembly concept and reliable Liebherr cranes meant that we were actually able to beat the planned time window.”
WASEL GmbH, with its headquarters in Bergheim in the Rhineland and ten other locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, offers complete services for heavy load logistics. WASEL GmbH is also a Liebherr factory dealer for tower cranes. For over seven decades, the name WASEL has been associated with sophisticated project planning, innovative technology and consistent safety thinking. Today, the company has an equipment and vehicle fleet of over 700 units: Mobile, lattice and crawler cranes of the latest design, heavy-duty vehicles and tower cranes. With more than 400 specialists, WASEL GmbH solves the demanding tasks for customers from industry, petrochemistry and many other areas of the economy.
Hagedorn Group is Germany's most efficient all-round service provider in the fields of demolition, waste disposal, recycling, civil engineering, heavy haulage logistics, land revitalization and digitization. The family-run business headed by Thomas Hagedorn achieved a total turnover of over 515 million euros in the 2024 fiscal year. This makes the company – founded in 1997 by Thomas Hagedorn – one of the top 4 largest and most successful demolition companies in the world with over 2000 employees. In addition to the headquarters in Gütersloh, Hagedorn is now active throughout Germany with additional locations as well as internationally.
Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH is a leading manufacturer of mobile and crawler cranes. Its range of mobile cranes extends from 2-axle 35 tonne cranes to heavy-duty cranes with a lifting capacity of 1,200 tonnes and a 9-axle chassis. Its lattice boom cranes on mobile or crawler travel gear deliver lifting capacities of up to 3,000 tonnes. With universal boom systems and extensive auxiliary equipment, they can be seen in action on construction sites throughout the world. The Ehingen site has a workforce of 5,000. An extensive, global service network guarantees the high availability of Liebherr mobile and crawler cranes. In 2024, the Liebherr plant in Ehingen recorded a revenue of 3.19 billion euros.
The Liebherr Group is a family-run technology company with a highly diversified product portfolio. The company is one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world. It also provides high-quality, user-oriented products and services in a wide range of other areas. The Liebherr Group includes over 150 companies across all continents. In 2024, it employed more than 50,000 staff and achieved combined revenues of over 14 billion euros. Liebherr was founded by Hans Liebherr in 1949 in the southern German town of Kirchdorf an der Iller. Since then, the employees have been pursuing the goal of achieving continuous technological innovation and bringing industry-leading solutions to its customers.
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