e-mosty September 2018 Vessels and Equipment Used for Bridge Construction | Page 20

On 9 th February 1996 the ‘Rambiz’ was delivered to her
owners and afterwards she set course to Lisbon in tow of
the 7,200 BHP anchor handling tug ‘Alphonse Letzer’.
The ‘Rambiz’ is designed and fabricated by the Dutch
heavy lift equipment manufacturer Huisman Equipment.
The ‘Rambiz’ is of catamaran design, utilising the Scaldis
pontoons ‘Ram’ and ‘Bizon’ for the vessel's floaters (each
with dimensions 76.00 x 19.80 x 5.60m). The twin hulls
are linked by a newly constructed pontoon, called
‘Buffel’, which enhances the vessel's stability. Located on
the connector beam are the vessel's wheelhouse and
accommodation spaces. Total width of the vessel is 67.90
m. The two cranes were new units, each rated at 2,000-
ton lift capacity.
On 29 th March 1998 the Ponte Vasco da Gama was
officially opened; just in time for the opening of the Expo
’98 on 22 nd May 1998.
Eleven million visitors came to the event between May
and September 1998.
After the Tagus project, the width of the ‘Rambiz’ was
reduced to 44.40 m making the vessel more suitable to
enter smaller ports and increasing her employability.
For propulsion, the ‘Rambiz’ is fitted with four 550 kW
thruster units, two at the bow and two at the stern,
controlled from the bridge. In the unloaded condition the
thrusters will be able to give the ‘Rambiz’ a speed of
approx. 8.5 knots and allow to manoeuvre with great
precision.
Figures 38 and 39: Rambiz lifting the bridge segments
Source: Scaldis
Second Van Brienenoord Bridge at Rotterdam, The
Netherlands
In 1965, a large road bridge was built on the east side of
Rotterdam over the Nieuwe Maas River, called the Van
Brienenoord Bridge.
This bridge was built at site. In order to be able to build
the bridge arch, two temporary auxiliary pillars were built
in the water.
The characteristic diagonal cables on which the road
surface is suspended, give the construction a high
dimensional stability.
During the eighties, it became clear that the capacity of
the bridge had been exceeded.
Therefore in 1986 a large-scale project was started that
provided for a doubling of the Van Brienenoord bridge
and the leading roads.
In order to hinder the shipping traffic as little as possible,
this second curve was not built on site, but at the
construction site of Grootint Zwijndrecht in combination
with Hollandia Kloos.
This proved possible due to the special proportions of the
arch shape. Queen Juliana officially opened the Van
Brienenoord Bridge to traffic on 1 st February 1965.
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