The over 100-year-old steel structure between the Rothenburgsort and Billwerder-Moorfleet S-Bahn stations had to be dismantled and rebuilt in a very short space of time: In order to minimize disruption to passengers on the S2 and S21 lines, the reconstruction was carried out in just two weeks. Gustav Seeland had set aside three days just for dismantling the bridge.

The dismantling and removal of the old bridge presented the specialists with challenges. The bridge overpass was dismantled from both the land and the water side.

To ensure quick dismantling, the bridge, which was built in 1902, was first divided into three parts. The three elements were lifted onto floating pontoons on the water side by crane and transported away. The particular difficulty of the job, however, was the dismantling and removal of the middle section of the bridge. A 500-ton crane anchored on a pontoon had to lift and load the 40-ton bridge element. Hydraulic support pillars were used to secure the loads and support the pontoon. This prevented the floating crane pontoon from swaying under load and tipping over.

After loading, the old bridge sections were towed on floating pontoons to the port of Hamburg for scrapping. Gustav Seeland planned to use two special cranes, each with a lifting capacity of around 220 tons, and a 60-ton brake truck with a pulling force of 80 tons for this major project. The lifting mast for the 500-ton crane was assembled on the crane pontoon from the land side. Gustav Seeland deployed 12 heavy lift and assembly specialists with the relevant expertise to handle the order.

"The planning and implementation of this extensive project requires the utmost precision. This is no easy task, even for the specialists at Gustav Seeland. With the tight time frame, the heavy loads and the installation from the water, there is a lot to consider. In particular, safety must not be neglected in such a complex task," says Johann Evers, Managing Director of Gustav Seeland.