Crane Pontoon Titaan for restoring the ”Afsluitdijk”

The ‘Afsluitdijk’ has been there for over 85 years. Since 2020, work has been carried out on the repair, renovation and maintenance of the ‘Afsluitdijk’, the Netherlands. Baars plays a role in this: initiator Levvel makes use of our modular backhoe pontoon Titaan, among other things.
The Titaan has been placing levvel blocs against the dike for a year now. The intention is that the crane pontoon will place 75,000 of these blocs in total. The work must be completed in 2022.

Pontoon Titaan, a versatile power platform on water
No matter how heavy the weather conditions, the Titaan crane pontoon continues working almost every day. The barges deliver the levvel blocs from the factory in Harlingen. The crane on the Titaan places the blocs very accurately on the dike and the cranes on the dike place the blocs in the predestined space. Each block has a number that can be followed digitally. The beauty of the Titaan is its heavy-duty pontoon construction: this allows the pontoon to move in the shallow water without a pusher, complete with Van Oord’s Sennebogen 875 crawler crane. With each step, the pontoon moves 10 meters.

This video by Van Oord shows the Titaan modular backhoe pontoon at work.

Rent a modular pontoon?
This prestigious project is the crane pontoon‘s first job. Of course, it can do much more. It can be used as a backhoe pontoon for dredging projects or dyke reinforcement and other work on coasts, quays and banks. It is equipped with spud poles that each have a lifting capacity of 120 tonnes.

Do you have a project for which you can use this versatile power platform? Ask about the possibilities for renting modular pontoons that fit your project!

‘The Titaan is a large crawler crane that stands on a customized backhoe pontoon. The pontoon moves by means of spud poles that can step. That’s why you don’t need a tugboat. The two rear spud poles can move independently of each other, so that the pontoon ‘walks’. Such a modular pontoon did not exist in this capacity before.’ [Technisch Weekblad, 18 Feb 2021]