China do not really do things in small measures, do they? They go really big and make a huge mess of it, like that huge straddling bus that glides over traffic and was the ‘next big thing’ but now lies dormant in the middle of a road being nothing but a nuisance; or they go big and make a huge success, like the SLJ900/32 that is revolutionizing the construction of bridges.
For years, the standard process of building bridges would be through the use of a crane, however, Beijing Wowjoint Machinery Company have created a quite excellent and innovative way that drastically speeds up the process . The SLJ900/32 is a whopping 580 tonnes, is 300 foot long and is 24 feet wide. Many people say the machine resembles more of a train, as opposed to a crane. Instead of using a stationary or crawler crane to lift the girder of a bridge from the ground and drop it into its place, the SLJ900/32 drives the girder onto the previously placed girder, slowly extends its arms to the next support platform, pushes the girder towards the front of the machine and then lowers it into place.
The machine is quite remarkable… don’t be surprised to see it in use globally soon.