Ball valve
Incredibly difficult work for man and machine. Carrying the ball valve from the mountain into the valley.

Bullet-proof

Renovation of a ball valve, weighing tonnes, in the famous Kaprun power plant

The Pipeline Construction division of Kremsmueller was entrusted the job of general renovation of the 60-year-old Limberg I power plant. Apart from all of the small pipeline work, they had to execute the dismantling and transport of a huge ball valve. For the team of the Pipeline Construction division, it was actually a matter of routine…
But during the course of the renovation work, the dismantling as well as the transport of the ball valve evolved into a real test of strength of the men and machines. The chamber in which the huge part, weighing 60 tonnes, was located had been built 60 years ago and was simply not designed for using a hoisting crane. Therefore, a transporting frame was quickly built to set the ball valve in motion.
The threaded joints were another hindrance. Till the time that the team from Kremsmueller arrived, they had been untouched for the last 16 years. An eye-catching special flat-bed truck was used for carrying it from the mountain into the valley.
Huge masses of water are dammed above the power plant  – 84 million cubic metres, no less. Through a penstock, the  water reaches the power plant and from there, it is directed into the turbines. The ball valve works as a shut-off. In an emergency, it is able to withstand the enormous pressure.
Would you like to know more on the project? A click on the right on the Contact button is enough – the specialists from Kremsmueller will be at your service.