Sarens twin-barge and pusher vessel installs a new road bridge over the Albert Canal in Belgium (source: Sarens)
Pusher vessels and barges were essential for transporting and installing a road bridge over one of Belgium’s busiest shipping canals
A bridge was transported and installed over the Albert Canal at Wijnegem, Belgium, with support from pusher tugs and a specialised barge.
The entire 88.0-m steel bridge was transported by a 90-m pontoon across the Scheldt to the Port of Antwerp, and from there to Wijnegem along the shipping canal on twin barge Karel-Victor, driven and manoeuvred by two pusher boats from the port to its location across the canal.
Sarens was commissioned to install the new road connection over the Albert Canal by the manufacturer, Ghent-based Aelterman. This is a fully welded and painted bridge with an 18.0-m width and 9.0-m height, just under the existing canal bridges’ clearance height of 9.1 m.
The pusher tugs could not attach themselves against the pontoon so they could only push against the bridge.
Once the Sarens team and barge arrived at the bridge location, the jacking process started on the canal side, which was only partially closed off.After three days of jacking, the bridge reached the correct height. The team then started installing the bridge during a 12-hour period when the canal was completely closed to all shipping traffic.
Anchor cables were released to both banks and, using winches, Sarens’ twin-barge carrying the bridge was positioned with precision at the designated jacking points.
There will be more work for pusher tugs, pontoons and barges as Sarens has been commissioned to install five more bridges over the Albert Canal, which connects Antwerp with the River Meuse at Liege, and connects with the Dessel-Turnhout-Schoten Canal.
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