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It is one of the largest mobile bridges in the world. Inaugurated in July 2007, replacing the previous one in 1961, it connects Matosinhos with Leça da Palmeira and, surprisingly, since then it has been closed to circulation on several occasions due to breakdowns, the last of which was just over a week ago.
However, after the damage to this infrastructure, “and the public repercussions that this circumstance has caused”, the Administration of the Ports of Duero, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL) decided to take a public position in this regard, guaranteeing “strict compliance maintenance contracts with specialized companies and weekly inspections of the mobile bridge “.
APDL affirms that the breakdowns suffered by the mobile bridge, “in 2013, 2018, 2019 and in the course of this year 2020, are not associated with maintenance problems, but rather with the premature ‘seizure’ of the bearings and cylinders to move the trays “. , which would have an expected useful life of more than 40 years, taking into account the daily opening cycles considered in the design phase, which remain unchanged, “the port authority said in a statement.
The APDL reports that the INEGI (Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering) “was monitoring and three-dimensional modeling of the mechanical organs of the mobile bridge to try to identify, in another way, in addition to the studies already carried out, origin and cause of this premature wear of parts whose useful life must be very far from the end and, therefore, are not susceptible to damage ”.
Result: the port authority of Leixões decided to promote the creation of a working group with the entities involved in the construction of the bridge, that is, Mota-Engil, responsible for the contract; Schaeffler, who carried out the production of its components; Eurocrane, which has been maintaining said components in their preventive and corrective aspects; and, finally, Hansa-flex, which is responsible for maintaining the propulsion system of that infrastructure.
This initiative will be coordinated by INEGI, “so that, ultimately, solutions are found to avoid the aforementioned failures,” concludes APDL.
According to the same source, the working group now created “will allow, by virtue of its multidisciplinarity, an integrated approach to the operation of the mobile bridge”, with the objective, first of all, of making the “diagnosis of the cause of premature failures that have come to occur through instrumentation and provisional modeling with computer simulations that will allow monitoring the bridge support structures and identifying weaknesses or deficiencies ”.
Based on the diagnosis made, they must then, “on the one hand, carry out the necessary repairs and, on the other hand, implement a system that allows anticipating the replacement of components through alerts and, to that extent, planned maintenance”. without the damage that results from unpredictability and corrective actions in emergency situations ”.
This process “is expected to last until April 2021” and, according to its conclusions, “APDL will take all necessary measures so that this infrastructure under its responsibility stops causing limitations to its users,” promises the Port authority.
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