Press release

[ BoxID 198561, Industrial Engineering ]  

Heavy loaded: The new Siempelkamp crimping press for Europipe

Crimping press during disassembly at Siempelkamp

(pressebox) Krefeld, 20.08.2008 - The heavy goods vehicle, transporting the crossbeam of the new crimping press for Europipe from the Siempelkamp factory to the Krefeld port at the end of July, had an overall load of 355 t (391 US tons). It was a spectacular transport. The largest parts had to be transported on a specially made low-loading truck and a ship because they were too heavy for the highway bridges along the way.

With this unusual transport Siempelkamp, once again, proved its exemplary all round service. After eleven months of development, four months of construction, two weeks of preliminary testing, and the subsequent acceptance test by the customer, Siempelkamp sent the new crimping press for Europipe on its way to Mülheim. As the first one of a total of three presses the crimping press will carry out the initial bending of the edges of up to 50 mm thick and up to 18 m (59 ft) long sheet metal made of high-strength steel which will be formed to pipeline pipes by the two downstream presses.

The disassembly of this huge machine took almost two weeks. For the assembly and startup of the press the Siempelkamp specialists have only five weeks available. According to plan, everything needs to be at place by calendar week 33; the first initial bending of sheet metal is scheduled for August 18.

The disassembly and the transport were planned and overseen by Siempelkamp: Four of 18 large construction components were transported on a low-loading truck from Krefeld to the Uerdingen port in one night – the largest heavy-load transport on Krefeld’s streets. Altogether the transport on the waterways of the Ruhr Valley took one day.

“With a pressing capacity of up to 11,000 t (12,125 US tons) the crimping press is not even ordinary for Siempelkamp. For the construction of this press we had to reinforce the foundation of our factory workshop,” says Sigfrid Buecher, the project manager at Siempelkamp. Fully assembled the machine has a dimension of 9 x 13 x 16 m (30 x 43 x 52 ft).

“The transport of the smaller parts and the frames, which were 50 t (55 US tons) each, was almost routine work. A challenge, however, was the transport of the press table and the crossbeam which at 166 t (183 US tons) and 216 t (238 US tons) were too heavy for the highway bridges along the way,” says Buecher. That’s why, starting at the Uerdinger Rhine port, waterways had to be used.

For the transport of the beams to the port Siempelkamp utilized a 52 m (171 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) wide low-loading truck: 600 horsepower and 160 tires carried the heavy load to its destination. Four mobile cranes were used to lift the machine elements from the truck onto the ship. A total of 30 staff members were involved in the transport.

Contact person:

Mr. Ralf Griesche
Phone: +49 (2151) 92-4636
Fax: +49 (2151) 92-5683
field of activity: Marketing + Communication
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Mr. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Stein
VIP Kommunikation
Phone: +49 (241) 89468-55
Fax: +49 (241) 89468-44
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