New Unimog for Magdeburg civil engineering department replaces several old vehicles at once.

Since November of last year, at Magdeburg civil engineering department they can put new power into their work: One Unimog U 527 takes care of bridges and tunnels – and once again shows surprising versatility.

Not just twice as good - three times as good.

"It was a huge project configuring the Unimog;" says Andreas Angenstein of the Ahlborn Unimog dealership, which had received the order from the town of Magdeburg. "It would be best if the new vehicle could deal with three areas of operation that were previously each done by an individual vehicle," explains the regional manager, who was involved right from the start. "We sat down together at a round table with the bodybuilder and we tried to find the best possible solution for the civil engineering department’s requirements."

The challenge of cutting the Unimog to the right size took almost a year. Ideally, the Unimog had to be as varied and versatile as the tasks of the civil engineering department are: in addition to cleaning tunnel walls in Magdeburg, there are a lot of different tasks to do with bridges and their access roads on the banks of the River Elbe. Other things to take into account were transporting material to and from construction sites during maintenance and restoration work, and when digging river banks or ditches.

Multi-talent through and through.

With the new Unimog U 527, now only one basic vehicle needs to be maintained, fuelled and stored, but it does the work of three. It has 270 hp and a long wheelbase of 3900 mm. In the planning phase, the aim was to combine a number of different applications in order to make enough space available on the Unimog for all the bodies by using one system – not an easy task: "Some manufacturers use the drive from the vehicle’s own hydraulics, another uses the engine power take-off and yet another one uses the power take-off transmission of the Unimog, which can generate up to 160 kW output," explains Andreas Lein, Head of Application Technology for Ahlborn. "Bodybuilder Hiab suggested using the familiar twist-lock system. No sooner said than done."

At high pressure around the globe: Unimog with a tunnel washer

For bridge maintenance and restoration, for example, an elevating work platform from the Danish manufacturer Versalift can be attached by the twist-lock system. This work platform has a maximum working height of 18.5 m, and a lateral range of up to eleven metres. The staff of the civil engineering department can do their work in a swivel range of up to 420°. Also the basket can be turned by up to 85° in both directions. The work basket can take a load of up to 230 kg and two people have enough space in it to work in comfort. The whole system is driven by the Unimog’s own hydraulic system via the second hydraulic circuit. Thanks to a tool container with roller shutters and a Sortimo system inside, tools and materials can be stowed safely for transport.