580 ton Mobile high speed rail and bridge construction machine

A Chinese company has built a machine that has a creative way of setting girders into place for high speed rail bridges.

The SLJ900/32, made by the Beijing Wowjoint Machinery Company, is a 580 ton, 300 foot long and 24 foot wide mega machine that looks more like a train than 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.

Other new heavy construction machines

Global construction equipment market

The global construction equipment market is expected to grow 5% next year to 690,506 units, according to the latest forecast from Off-Highway Research.

Another positive is the anticipated return to growth of the Chinese construction equipment market in 2017. Unit sales this year are expected to come in at 104,840 machines – the lowest since 2002 and a less than a quarter of the record high of 435,070 pieces of equipment sold in 2011. However, the recovery is expected to be a gradual one, with 10 per cent growth forecast for 2017, to take the market to 115,450 units. After such a dramatic collapse from 2011 – 2016, conditions are expected to remain difficult in the Chinese market