A launching gantry is a crane built around one job: lifting precast girders off a transport trolley, carrying them out over a pier, and setting them down on bearings to the tolerance the bridge engineer demands. It is not a catalogue machine. The span, the girder weight, the pier geometry, the longitudinal slope and the curve radius of your viaduct decide the design — so we start from your drawings, not from a size chart.
Double guide beam launching gantry — the classic machine for precast T-beams and box girders: two main guide beams spanning between the piers, a lifting trolley travelling on them, and hydraulic legs that step the machine forward span by span. It handles some longitudinal slope and can be slewed for slight skew.
Single guide beam / bridge erecting machine — a lighter, narrower machine for sites with limited access or lower girder weights, feeding girders from a casting or storage yard and setting them in sequence.
Segmental launching gantry — where the deck is cast or erected in segments rather than whole girders, the gantry carries a lifting frame and, often, a casting frame, walking forward through the completed deck. Heavy segmental machines above 300 t are engineered individually and require a full design review with your bridge engineer.
Erection support machine — where the piers are tall and girder weights push the limits of a conventional machine, we quote a lifting and traversing arrangement with synchronised hydraulic cylinders and a control system that monitors them.
Send these and we can give you a real answer, including a preliminary design and a budget:
Launching gantry accidents are usually overturning or dropped-load accidents, and both are managed by the control system rather than by operator care:
Our normal scope for a launching gantry: design and calculations, manufacture, factory assembly and load testing, surface preparation and painting, shipping split and loading plan, detailed assembly and erection drawings, an operation and maintenance manual in English, training of your erection crew, and a supervisor on site for the first span or the whole launching programme — whichever your project needs.
We also handle the parts that projects underestimate: the test bed before shipment, the certified lifting tackle for assembly, the spare parts list, and the transport brackets that stop the guide beams from twisting in transit. On a machine of this size, designing the transport before the order is what keeps the schedule.
| Typical capacity / span | 100 t / 30 m · 160 t / 40 m · 200 t / 50 m · 250 t / 50 m; larger segmental machines to order |
|---|---|
| Machine type | Double guide beam, single guide beam, segmental launching gantry, erection support machine |
| Walking method | Hydraulic self-walking (step-type); rail-mounted for yard duty |
| Longitudinal slope | Typically up to ±3% with standard design; steeper on request |
| Transverse movement | Lateral traversing trolley; slew capability for skew and curved alignment |
| Lifting | Mechanical winch or hydraulic lifting frame with synchronised control |
| Power supply | 380 V / 50 Hz 3-phase standard; diesel-hydraulic power pack option for sites without reliable power |
| Safety devices | Overload limiter, anti-overturning monitoring, mechanical locks, travel limits, wind interlock, emergency stops |
| Documentation | Design calculations, assembly and erection drawings, O&M manual, test report, spare parts list |
| Services | Site supervisor, crew training, commissioning, first-span launching support |
The table shows the range we normally supply. Your offer states the exact capacity, span, lifting height, duty class and voltage for your site — and where a figure in this table differs from the offer, the offer prevails. Send us your requirement and we will confirm each line in writing before you order.
Yes, up to a point, and the honest answer depends on the radius and the girder length. A launching gantry has to sit across two or more piers, so on a tight curve the machine's geometry changes with every span. The options are a slewable gantry with adjustable support positions, a narrower single guide beam with lateral adjustment, or a different erection method such as a segmental gantry. Send us the alignment drawing with the radii marked and we will tell you which of those applies.
We supply the machine and, normally, a supervisor and technicians for assembly, testing and the first span, plus training for your crew. Most projects use their own labour locally with our people supervising, which keeps cost down and leaves you with a trained team. If your project needs a full erection team from China, tell us at quotation stage — visas, wages and travel have to be planned into the price rather than added later.
For a custom launching gantry, allow roughly 3–5 months from approved drawings to shipment, depending on capacity and the amount of special engineering. Design and approval is usually 3–5 weeks of that, and it depends heavily on how quickly your bridge engineer reviews and returns the drawings. If your project has a fixed erection window, tell us the date in the first message and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
The machine is assembled at the factory, the hydraulic and control systems are commissioned, and the lifting system is load tested — normally to 1.25 times rated load unless your specification says otherwise. The overload limiter is set and demonstrated, the synchronised control is checked for deviation, and the walking sequence is tested on temporary track. You receive the test report with the shipment, together with photographs and video of the test.
Workshops, warehouses, assembly and maintenance bays. Light structure, low wheel load, quick to install.
1–20 t · span to 30 mHeavy duty and long spans: steel fabrication, precast yards, smelters, heavy machining shops.
5–100 t · custom spanOutdoor stockyards, precast beds, container and aggregate handling. Hook, grab or C-hook.
3–100 t · rail or tyreSend capacity, span and lifting height and we will reply with a specification and a price within 24 hours.
We quote from 4–5 long-term partner factories in Changyuan, Henan. You will know which one is building your crane, our inspectors test it before shipment, and the drawings, test report and manuals travel with the machine. More about how we work →
Crane type, capacity (t), span (m) and lifting height (m) is usually enough for us to quote. Send a photo of your workshop if you are not sure.
