German autobahn project success for Epiroc

Mexner GmbH make light work of motorway bridge dismantlement using Epiroc attachments

A FLEET of Volvo crawler excavators each fitted with an Epiroc hydraulic breaker has recently helped demolish the Mainz South motorway interchange in Germany. Contractors Mexner were tasked with dismantling the A60/A63 north bridge overnight and in the shortest time possible. 

The high volume of traffic using the motorway interchange every day – approximately 180,000 vehicles – posed a real challenge to the construction team to complete the demolition of the freeway as quickly as possible. The project was, therefore, limited to working overnight without causing damage to the other adjacent carriageways.

The contract to demolish the north bridge of the well-used motorway interchange was awarded to Mexner, who had previously dismantled the south bridge of the Mainz South interchange in 2017, which has subsequently been rebuilt. 

Thanks to their experience and technical know-how on the previous demolition project, Mexner demolished the north bridge effectively on time and within budget. The demolition contractor was aware that the viaduct contained extremely large amounts of prestressed steel and would require many machines and hydraulic breaker attachments to complete the contract.  

After Mexner had filled a drop bed to protect the roadways under the bridge, 10 crawler excavators equipped with hydraulic hammers successfully completed the demolition of the bridge within a tight scheduled time window.

The Epiroc hydraulic breakers used in the bridge dismantlement ranged from the HB 3100 to the HB 5800 models, and all hammer sizes were required on the demolition contract.

Epiroc's heavyweight hydraulic breakers, the HB series, are specifically engineered for the primary demolition of massive reinforced concrete structures such as highways, primary rock excavation, and secondary crushing on construction sites and in quarries. 

The integrated patented Intelligent Protection System (IPS) facilitates and provides maximum idle protection by automatically adjusting the start-up and shut-down behaviour during operation. This offers maximum efficiency with minimum risk, even under difficult conditions. 

Performance is further optimized by the AutoControl system, which automatically adjusts and matches the impact energy and impact rate during operation.