Main challenge
At the end of 2018, another imposing construct will be added into the list after a production time of about seven years – the Hochmoselbrücke Bridge. After completion, this bridge will be one of Germany’s largest bridges with a height of 160 meters and a length of 1.7 kilometers. It will connect both the Belgian/Dutch North Sea ports and Belgian metropolitan areas with the Rhine-Main-area. The bridge leads directly across the Mosel valley from Ürzig to Zeltlingen-Rachtig.
At the production plants in Hanover and Lauterbourg (France), the rolled steel sheets are machined for the superstructure, prefabricated and then transported to the construction site with heavy load carriers. The final assembly is performed with the help of on site SEH-developed displacement technology. The bridge superstructure consists of approx. 900 prefabricated components. With a length of 15-25 meters and a weight of 20-100 tons almost every single component is unique. During execution, production and assembly, current regulations as well as customer requirements had to be taken into consideration.
Kemppi's solution
The welding equipment and burners from Kemppi have been successfully used in this project to satisfy the specific quality requirements. Kemppi’s SuperSnake subfeeder especially facilitated operations. With this special equipment, distances of up to 25 meters could be reached with different filler wires between the MIG power sources and wire feeders. So, difficult accessibilities no longer caused problems for the expert staff. Thanks to the SuperSnake, heavy wire feeders did not have to be moved over long distances, which greatly reduced the physical load on the welders and maximized productivity.
The production and assembly of this large-scale project was performed and completed according to DIN 18800. At the same time, however, all orders of the SEH Engineering GmbH are performed according to the regulations of the EN 1090 valid since 1st July 2014. In order to meet the high quality requirements, SEH decided to use Kemppi’s WeldEye welding management software. By recording and analyzing the welding data, SEH can use this unique software solution to actively monitor and coordinate the ever-increasing demands for increased quality and productivity. In addition, the software makes it possible to assign the project and building component to a specific project, which is very important for professional project calculation.
The system collects the necessary measured data from welding operations in real time using the corresponding Smart Readers and stores these into the cloud. The acquired welding and production data is then used to determine the quality, operating structure and work phases of the customer – SmartData. After the data analysis, this information becomes a valuable source for quality assurance and thus for the entire production flow of the company. The conclusions drawn are used to ensure continuous productivity improvement. Better calculation values for future projects enable a considerable competitive advantage. It is unique that all welding data can be handed over automatically to the client when the project is completed.
