Record length push convoy
August 14, 2020 | Markus Lackner
Heated planning of the transport for the future chill area with cooling effect, right at the heart of Vienna, took around three months. The reinforced concrete parts – transported by the F 131 large-capacity push barge and the 200-tonne crane mounted on it – set off from the heavy lift terminal operated by Felbermayr in Port Albern in Vienna. There, a total of 27 reinforced concrete girders with piece weights of up to 35 tonnes were handled by a Liebherr HS 895 deck crane, rail-mounted on the push barge. The "Grafenau" tugboat assisted by pulling the 126 metre long barge. “The push-boat "Theresa" pushed the vessel”. Connected in this way, the push convoy came to a length of around 185 metres. “This made it the longest push convoy ever deployed on the Vienna Danube Canal”, reports Franz Fahrngruber of Felbermayr Wasserbau. As a captain with over four decades of inland shipping experience, he knows what he is talking about. It was also necessary to acquire a special permit for the transport by ship, because the generally permitted length of such convoys on the Danube Canal is 71 metres.
On the limits of nautical feasibility
“With the approximately twelve-metre wide push convoy, we had no space on the left or right in the 35 metre wide and sometimes winding canal. The available space above and below the convoy – restricted by bridges and the canal bed – was modest to say the least, and close to the limits of nautical feasibility”, reports Fahrngruber.
The round-trip vessels in the canal were also challenging. “If we had encountered one of them, we would have had an unavoidable problem”, explains Fahrngruber with a smile, because our convoy and a tourist ship such as the Twin City Liner would not have had space to pass by each other. “For this reason, the heavy load vessel made its way along the canal in the early hours of the morning. It was necessary to observe a strict time window. Once at the destination – the Kaiserbadschleuse lock in Vienna – the reinforced concrete girders, up to 26 metres in length, were moved by the ship's crane.
The following day they headed back, in reverse so to speak, to the heavy goods port of Albern, where the second load was transferred to the large-capacity push barge. Two transports were necessary due to the overall weight of 950 tonnes. If the carriers had been transported at once, the proverbial "hair's breadth of water under the keel" would have disappeared and the transport would have been stuck. But the second shipment the following day also went without a hitch. The parts delivered and shifted by Felbermayr Wasserbau are required as overlays – ultimately, a new connection will be created between the Danube Canal promenade and the Kaiserbadschleuse, which has been out of use until now.
"Floating gardens" for cooling
The redesigned Kaiserbadschleuse lock on Vienna's Danube Canal is intended to cool the city down on hot days and increase the green space. The design has been based on the "hanging gardens" on the Seine in Paris. In Vienna, work is still in progress on designing and planting the gardens. The entire project is set for completion in late summer and will be free for use by everyone.
