Heavy Lifting: The Bridge Cranes
Previous posts in the New Narrows Bridge Series:
How ya gonna get those bad boys up there?
As the cables were being spun, some unusual-looking equipment began to appear in the staging area behind the east anchor. Light blue in color, they appeared at first to be part of the bridge structure itself.
For weeks I pondered the question: What’s blue, and angular, and assists in erection?
The answer came: Viagra! — but I somehow didn’t think this equipment would be of much benefit with that equipment. Seemed kind of… awkward, you know? The quest continued…
…until one day, a few weeks later, the pieces were moved and assembled, and their purpose became apparent: overhead mobile gantry cranes, using the cables themselves for support. This erection’s definitely gonna last more than four hours — but please don’t call your doctor…
There are eight of these mobile monsters: two between the towers and the anchors at either end, and four on the cables between the two towers.
The gantries use the cables as tracks and move along them on motorized wheels a few inches at a time — but there’s a small problem: the cable bands are in the way.
No worries: when the cranes get to a cable band, they simply hop over them.
