Ford used the factory holidays to install the 68-ton, almost 40-meter-long middle section of a steel bridge in the Cologne plant. The assembly took three hours and was carried out with the help of a 500-tonne special crane. The bridge is part of the site conversion to the Cologne Electrification Center.
The first, twelve meter long tower bridge section was attached to a new building for paint pretreatment last month. The last eleven meters are now assembled in the same way and connected at a height of eight meters with the long section and a hall in which the remaining paint area and the drying ovens are housed. The bodies are conveyed from the dip coating to the drying ovens through the 4.80 meter wide and 62 meter long transfer. The conversion of the entire logistics in painting is necessary in order to start production of a new all-electric volume model at the end of the year, the body of which is heavier than that of the current Fiesta.
Also with the help of a crane, the last components of a new oven are hoisted onto the roof of the final assembly. To do this, the two floors below of the entire building had to be completely cleared at times in advance. The new oven is characterized by a special air flow that is specially adapted to the structural bodywork of future electric vehicles. The new ovens, which are up to 140 meters long, are used to harden the various layers of paint. (awm)