Chain Drive System Provides Long-Term Solution For Ferry Loading/Unloading Bridge

In addition to being a recreational area, Lake Constance is also a reservoir and important transport route. There are three main ferry routes, all used by cars and commercial vehicles, as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

One of these routes is between Konstanz and Meersburg, a distance of 4 km, which is used by long distance traffic travelling to and from Switzerland. Traffic using this ferry route is said to be around 3.5 million people, travelling in 1.6 million cars and 79,000 commercial vehicles per year.

The shipping pier in Meersburg has two height-adjustable loading and unloading bridges. These have a hinged shore fixing to permit the bridges to be raised or lowered according to the changing level of the water in the lake.

The lifting and lowering of the bridges is performed by a chain drive. The specification of the optimum chain for the application, the chain drive design and the realisation of the project was carried out by Rexnord Application Engineering in cooperation with Obermüller Antriebstechnik, a Rexnord distributor located near Lake Constance.