SENNEBOGEN 8400: Balance material handler for the port of Burgas

Birth of a giant: How do you build a material handler with a reach of 40 m, operating weight of over 270 t, and a cab at a height of 20 m? And, more to the point, how do you then get it to the operating site on the Black Sea in Bulgaria?

Construction in Straubing – every screw has to be right – Even the trial construction of the balance material handler on the company premises in Straubing was a logistical masterclass. In a tandem lifting operation with two cranes, the uppercarriage and the boom elements were assembled and screwed together at vertiginous heights.  This was followed by testing and adjustments before the machine was dismantled again to get it ready for the journey to Bulgaria.

Going from Straubing to Burgas by road is around 1,760 km – with an average consumption of 30 liters per truck and a distance of around 600 km covered each day, one truck would use around 530 l of diesel and take three days to get there. With 36 individual parts and a total mass of around 270 t, you would need 15 trucks to deliver the machine to Bulgaria. Result: 15 truck drivers, more than 8,000 l of fuel, and very complicated logistics.

Solution: Go by boat along the Danube. When divided into 36 individual parts, the SENNEBOGEN 8400 fits easily into the river boat which travels from the port in Straubing down the Danube toward Ruse in Bulgaria. With a capacity of 1,200 t over a loading area of 500 m², there is plenty of room for even the largest parts. This only requires a crew of 4 people and the fuel consumption is around 30% lower than truck transport. And as an added bonus, there are rarely traffic jams on the waterways – protecting both the road and the environment.

The SENNEBOGEN 8400 is a balance material handler. It makes use of the equilibrium principle – a counterweight in the rear balances the equipment at all times via a coupling bar over the boom. This makes it incredibly easy to move the equipment, even though it weighs several tons. The 8400 was equipped with a rail gantry undercarriage for its work in Burgas, Bulgaria's largest Black Sea port. The entire machine can move along the dock and trucks simply drive under the machine for loading. The giant, which has a reach of 40 m, is extremely easy to steer using two joysticks in the cab, which is itself at a height of 20 m.

Job done – now in place in Burgas, the SENNEBOGEN 8400 unloads tons of bulk goods every day and ensures that the port logistics processes proceed smoothly. The SENNEBOGEN 8400 ensures that goods are handled quickly and safely and, thanks to its electric drive and balance principle, it also saves fuel and valuable energy. Mission accomplished.