We know how to keep to an impossible timetabel

We built Odense-Svendborg Railway Bridge 30 metres away from the track

When we pushed the 75 metre long, 1,450 ton railway bridge into place on the Odense-Svendborg line, it was the first time in Denmark's history that an entire bridge was wheeled into position in one operation.

The alternative had been to take up several hundred metres of track, remove 7,000 cubic metres of soil, cast the five load-bearing pillar and decking in situ, and put it all together like an assembly kit. But that would have taken far too long – train services between Odense and Svendborg could only be discontinued for 11 days maximum.

An (almost) impossible timetable

“When we saw the timetable and the size of the delay penalties, we abandoned the conventional approach. The only way in which we believed we could keep to the timetable was to complete the construction of the bridge close to the track and then push it the last 30 metres”, says project manager Gert Paarup, who together with foremen Carsten Jensen and Ernst Sølvsten was responsible for keeping to the schedule.

The solution was to build the bridge 30 metres to the side, lay guide rails, place specially made roller skates on the ”feet” of the bridge, and wheel the whole thing into position - with millimetre accuracy.

Technique known from shipyards

The technique we used to push the bridge into position is the same as is used when large ship sections are moved at Danyard in Frederikshavn. The technique was also used at the launch of Mols Line's catamaran ferries – but it had never before been used to move an entire bridge.

Constructed on a railway embankment

When the bridge was finally in place after a six hour “drive”, we began re-establishing the railway embankment, raising it by half a metre along a 400 metre stretch. After laying crushed rock, the railway workers could install the new rails.

A close collaboration with Krangården

The entire complex operation was carried out in collaboration with our subsidiary Krangården. The new bridge now enables trains to run without problems over the motorway south of Odense, and the very next day after we had finished, the first train whizzed over the bridge.