Page Tools
News and media
Sign up to receive ArcelorMittal Europe news alerts by email
Page tools
Print
Bookmark
Share on
Contact us Contact us
  • Providing safer and more efficient access to the Moselle

Our Long Products improve mobility on the Moselle

With a length of 560 km, the Moselle is a major European waterway, crossing France, Luxembourg and Germany. Next April, a brand new steel-concrete composite bridge will rise on the French bank of the river. It is currently being built with beams from ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products assembled in box girders entirely prefabricated by Steligence® Fabrication Centre in Luxembourg. About 200 km from there, on the German bank of the Moselle, new locks are being installed thanks to ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling. 

Safer and more efficient accesses on the river

Built in 1942, the old bridge located in Tonnoy, France, was deteriorated and was no longer in line with the latest standards regarding mobility. With this new 92-metre bridge, user safety will increase thanks to a new footbridge dedicated exclusively to pedestrians and cyclists and a wider road for vehicles traffic. The bridge will also limit the impacts in the Moselle riverbed and ensure better hydraulic flow thanks to the presence of three pillars instead of four.

As for the locks in Germany, the existing ones are no longer up to date in their dimensions, causing waiting times at the lock passages. This is a major issue, especially when freight transport has to share the route with the abundant tourist excursion boats. As a solution, the locks will be equipped with a second lock chamber, in larger dimensions (210 m x 12.5 m). Thanks to the second lock chambers, waterways as ecological and economic modes of transport will become even more attractive, which will also strengthen the reputation of this economic area.

S460M: the key advantage to win this bridge project

Early September, construction of the Tonnoy bridge welcomed a huge step: the delivery on site and the installation of the box girders. The girders, fabricated and painted by Steligence® Fabrication Centre, are composed of 24 beams in grade S460M produced in ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ mill in Differdange. They measure between 30.5m et 35.4m and weigh a total of 187 tonnes.

The use of S460M structural steel grade allowed for weight reduction, which was a competitive advantage in this project – initially supposed to be completely built with concrete. Thanks to ArcelorMittal steel, construction time and costs were considerably reduced, as there was no need for formwork, sanding, welding or confinement.

For the installation of the 12 girders (eight 29,850-m girders of 2 beams and four 35-m girders of 2 beams), a 220-tonne lifting crane was used. Transportation was organised by the Steligence® Fabrication Center with the help of MKTS transport company. This special transport had to be regulated by pilot cars and the Luxembourgish and French law enforcement.

Improving waterway transport

Out of the 10 locks* that require works, Zeltingen and Fankel are already extended and in operation. For the Trier lock, the overall construction comprises the extension of the upper and lower outer harbour to a length of 225 m, the relocation of the Trier water gauge, the construction of a new control centre for the locks of Zeltingen, Wintrich, Detzem and Trier, as well as an ecological compensation measure at the Monaise sports boat harbour.

The upper outer harbour, the central piers in the upper and lower water will be built using steel sheet piling from ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, produced in the mill of Belval. A single anchored PU® 22 sheet pile wall will be used for the upper outer harbour and an approach dolphin in the lower water will be constructed as a circular cell from AS® 500 profiles – filled with sand or other material – that will be dismantled at the end of the new lock construction.

Works for the bridge are still ongoing on the banks of the Moselle with a completion foreseen in April 2020. As for the Trier lock, completion should take place before the end of 2019.