Duty cycle crawler crane in hydraulic engineering applications: SENNEBOGEN 655 HD at WSA Aschaffenburg

The Aschaffenburg Water and Shipping Authority (WSA) as a federal authority is responsible for the maintenance of the Main federal waterway, from the mouth in the Rhine upstream to river kilometer 185.2. The 15 lock operating points, in particular, require regular maintenance and inspection. For this purpose, the WSA has extensive machinery, which, since July 2014 has been supplemented with a new SENNEBOGEN 655 HD duty cycle crawler crane. The machine with an extensive range of special equipment was especially designed for use on the so-called multi-purpose ferry "Muräne" by the specialist department Mechanical Engineering - South.

The 655 HD duty cycle crawler crane, delivered and supported by our sales and service partner IBS, is driven by a powerful 261 kW diesel engine. Two crane winches, each with a tensile force of 160 kN, as well as the reinforced, 2-row slewing ring, offer optimal prerequisites for the demanding implementation on the Main. The cab, which can be elevated by 2.7 m, and the plastic shoes mounted on the crawler tracks to protect the ship deck are particularly conspicuous.

The 655 HD has been deployed in the lower Main valley since mid-October, where there was a lot of work to be performed on the Offenbach lock. In daily operation approximately 50 to 70 ships pass through the dual-chamber lock. Regular draining of the lock chambers and a structural inspection required the installation of a so-called lock inspection gate, consisting of steel elements up to 9 m in length that provisionally hold back the water. This is where multi-purpose ferry and duty cycle crawler crane are successfully deployed. First, the steel plates and components are loaded onto the ferry in order to then place them in front of the lock gates with centimeter precision. The steel elements weigh up to 4 t and are between 6 m and 9 m in length. Thanks to the good collaboration of crane operator, ship''s crew, and divers the steel plates are mounted within three hours, the lock chamber is sealed