A 2,200-tonne railway bridge span was moved into position in Budapest using 176 SPMT axle lines, allowing one of the city’s main road arteries to reopen after just a single weekend.
Mammoet worked with Hungarian contractor V-HID on the installation of the first span of the new Közvágóhíd railway bridge, part of the Ferencváros–Kelenföld railway capacity expansion project.
The south bridge measures 108 metres long and 20 metres wide and crosses Soroksári út, a major route into the Hungarian capital.
With a prolonged road closure ruled out, Mammoet developed an accelerated installation method using Self-Propelled Modular Transporters rather than a conventional skidding system with temporary support towers.
Four SPMT sets operated across two levels during the launch. Units were initially positioned at upper level to advance the bridge from the abutment and were then progressively lowered to ground level using a 400-tonne mobile crane.
Once reconfigured, each ground-level support set collected four temporary support masts and drove beneath the advancing bridge.
At the final stage, three SPMT sets were positioned beneath the structure. Each set comprised four 12-axle-line modules, giving 48 axle lines per support set. Across the complete operation, including the elevated launch and ground-level configurations, a total of 176 SPMT axle lines were deployed.
The temporary support masts incorporated sections from an MSG crane mast, with four masts mounted on each SPMT set and load spreaders positioned underneath.
This arrangement allowed the 2,200-tonne structure to be transported progressively across the road without drilling deep foundations or constructing temporary supports in Soroksári út.
The installation reduced disruption to a single weekend, with the road closed from Friday morning and reopened before Monday rush hour.
“Our expertise and flexibility in terms of engineering solutions and equipment allows us to adapt to technical challenges,” said Jordy van der Hoeven, Project Manager at Mammoet.
A second 2,200-tonne span forming the north bridge will follow using a similar methodology, although available working space will be more restricted following installation of the first structure.
