Downers use Jonel hydraulic muscle for Taupiri rail bridge

The new Taupiri Rail Bridge project involved four sections of steel bridge weighing at approximately 96 tonnes each, assembled across piers over the Mangawara River in the Waikato. The new bridge replaces the last timber rail bridge on the line between Tauranga and Auckland.

Each section was comprised of two 24m ‘I Beam’ girders connected by 20 sets of 5.5m cross beams, all bolted with 7/8” Dia bolts. As well as being located on studded bearing pads, each section was bolted to 8 pier corbels by 1.1/2” Dia bolts.

538 SQUARE METRES OF BRIDGE
390 TONS OF STEEL
Over 80,000 PRECISION TORQUE CYCLES
7,246 GENERAL FASTENERS

ONE TOOL BRAND WAS TRUSTED TO COMPLETE THE JOB

Ultimately over 7246 torqued assemblies were set in place using Enerpac ¾” & 1” Drive Hydraulic Torque Wrenches provided during the two month bolting process.

Operators found our Enerpac ‘auto cycle feature’ torque pumps indispensable, speeding up the whole job with high flow output, and allowing the operator to focus on the final bolt head position.

“Jonels have done a great job in supporting my crew and we really appreciate the level of effort and service Jonel has put in.” – Allister Scott, Site Superintendent

Once each section had been assembled, the final positioning and lowering of 450mm was achieved by the use a range of shims, jacking stools and girder stools in conjunction with four 50T RC Series single acting Enerpac jacks connected to a central control station and Hydraulic power pack.

After the first induction and training stage of a few hours, the time for each section to be positioned was reduced to less than one hour, whilst maintaining a infinite level of height and load control.