16 earthmoving machines in night-time operation demolish motorway bridges on the A3 autobahn

In order to widen the A3 autobahn between the German cities of Aschaffenburg and Würzburg, a number of pedestrian and road bridges have to be demolished because they are not wide enough. Last month, in Weibersbrunn, Bavaria, two bridges were demolished in an overnight operation.

The Liebherr bridge demolition fleet comprised a total of 13 crawler excavators (R 926, R 934, R 944 and R 946), one L 566 wheel loader, one PR 724 crawler tractor and a TA 230 articulated truck. The primary contractor, Christof Brand GmbH, supplemented its own fleet by hiring machines from Liebherr Rental Services (Liebherr-Mietpartner GmbH) for this operation. Mechanics at the Frankfurt branch of Liebherr Earthmoving Machines Sales and Service (Liebherr-Baumaschinen Vertriebs- und Service GmbH) were on site throughout the operation in case any urgent repairs became necessary on the machines.

The first thing that was done after the motorway had been closed at 22:00 hrs was to lay out a bed of sand and earth under the bridge to prevent the carriageway from being damaged by falling debris. Around 100 spectators watched as several crawler excavators worked together on the two bridges with demolition shears and pulverisers. The bridges collapsed after about two hours. At about 05:00 hrs, there was not a stone left standing of the two bridges, the carriageway was clean again and the motorway was re-opened right on schedule.

Precise logistical and organisational planning was essential to guarantee the operation ran smoothly.

Up to 13 crawler excavators were in operation at once.