Beijing Wowjoint Machinery Company’s SLJ900/32 is basically the 580-ton, 300-foot-long and 24-foot-wide mega machine they use in China to build bridges. Rather than use a stationary or crawler crane to lift the girder of a bridge off the ground and drop it into place, this mega machine drives the girder onto the previously placed girder, slowly extends its arms to the next support platform, pushes the girder towards the front of the machine, and then lowers it into place. Continue reading for two more videos, including one animation showing how it works.
“On average, launching machines erect around 730 spans in a lifetime, with almost 40% of gantries assembling more than 1,000. Over 70% of the launching gantries have a service life of at least four years, with most of them having a capacity of between 800 to 950 tons,” reports Auto Evolution.
