Case Studies

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, China

The 4th Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the 3rd largest bridge in China, and one of the largest in the world, carrying vehicular traffic across the Yangtze river. Bridge Operations Manager Wang Hao took delivery of a Multihog MX 120 in October 2018, and two years later, is happier than ever with the performance of the multi purpose tractor.

As a general maintenance vehicle for the bridge, the Multihog is tasked with snow removal, grass mowing and pruning branches, and for these essential tasks, it was delivered along with a variety of attachments including a snow blower, boom mower and sweeper.

Covering almost 5 kilometres of national highway on the bridge alone (it also operates on highways around Nanjing City), the Multihog’s road speed of 40km/h (25 mph) is invaluable in carrying out the work efficiently. It replaced a combination of an older machine and some manual work and is much safer now that the operator is inside the Multihog’s enclosed cabin.

Wang says the MX was chosen for its compact size, maneuverability, and high level of efficiency. He had some pre-conceived ideas about how the Multihog would improve operations and is happy to report that it’s delivered in all areas. “It’s highly efficient and saves us so much operating time. We also save costs because we use it all year round. It’s not just a snow blower, or just a grass mower – it’s a ‘one machine does all’ solution for us, and in our case, has saved us the expense of buying two other machines.”

Wang also hopes to use the multi purpose tractor for other maintenance tasks in the near future. “In addition to the bridge, we also maintain the connecting highway and a further 170km of highway around Nanjing city. We have some underpasses which can be prone to flooding in bad weather, so we’d like to acquire a high-volume pump attachment for our Multihog to help combat that.

According to Wang, it’s definitely faster than their old machine, and has improved both operational efficiency and safety. “Our operators are now enclosed inside the cabin, and on a busy highway, that’s vital. They also tell us that fatigue is no longer an issue – the cab is so comfortable for them; they really like it.”

The biggest performance indicator for Wang is the traffic flow on the bridge. His team do a lot of the less visible maintenance which goes unnoticed by drivers – sweeping, mowing, etc. But snow removal was a complicated issue for them before the arrival of the MX. “When we have storms now, we know that we can deploy the Multihog and snow blower, which can blow the snow out over the concrete barrier at the side of the bridge. That just wasn’t possible with a snow plough. This method is so much faster and safer, and the Multihog is so compact that it doesn’t take up any space on the highway lanes, keeping the traffic flowing well, and reducing the time spent in jams.”

  • Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, China
  • MX

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