Potain rebuilds a Serbian bridge

In Novi Sad, in Serbia, a tower crane Potain MCT 88 takes a major role in the rehabilitation project of the Žeželj bridge which spans the Danube and connects a key section of the international railway network.

Originally built in 1961, the Žeželj bridge was destroyed in 1999 after being damaged by wartime bombing in the former Yugoslavia. The Serbian railways of Belgrade are committed to rebuilding the bridge in 2014 as part of a 1.2 billion euro investment plan for Serbian infrastructure.

Azvi, the construction division of Azvi Group based in Spain, was commissioned in August 2016 to rebuild the bridge. To do so, Azvi chose a Potain MCT 88 crane erected on a coffer dam in the middle of the Danube and remotely controlled. This crane with a capacity of 5 t is 52 m high and dedicates itself to the lifting of the metal foundations and arches of the bridge stored on the bank. Elements weigh nearly 5,200 t. The work is expected to continue until 2017.

When the Žeželj bridge is completed, it will be one of the longest railway bridges in Europe. The structure is located along an international railway line crossing the Hungarian border. It will have a length of 474 m and a width of 31.8 m. It will support two railways, a 2-lane road and two bike paths 2.5 m wide each.