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Atlas Copco: Four hour demolition
3/28/2014 |
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Demolition crew had just hours to remove a bridge so its replacement could step into place
When the Colorado Department of Transportation needed to improve operations at Denver's Pecos Street and Interstate 70 interchange, it chose an Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) approach to minimize interference with traffic flow. A replacement bridge was built near the site to be moved into place on tracked carriers as soon as the existing bridge was down. Demolition had to be done in a single night.
Everything had to be tightly choreographed to make it go as smoothly as possible. The plan was for Staker Parson Companies' demolition crews to get the bridge down and out of the way by 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Since demolition couldn't start until 11 p.m. Friday night, it meant the crews had just eight hours to get the job done.
Donnie Fetters, owner and President of Performance Equipment of Erie, Colorado, supplied the equipment: "We sent four hydraulic breakers and two CC 3300 Combi Cutters, all Atlas Copco."
Demolition didn't start right away. The tracked carriers for the new bridge needed a perfectly level surface to travel on, so the demolition crews were first tasked with spreading dirt to bear steel plates for the carriers. It was 3 a.m. by the time demolition actually started, leaving only four hours for completion.
"We attacked the bridge from both sides at the middle," Fetters said, describing what he said was an ideal strategy. "Coming at that thing with six of those tools was just amazing." A Combi Cutter was stationed at the center on both sides. Each was "nibbling away like on an ear of corn," Fetters said. On either side of a Combi Cutter was a breaker.
In spite of having only half the time originally planned for the demolition, crews finished by deadline, with only a little cleanup left to do. The replacement bridge crawled into position according to plan. The new Pecos Street bridge opened for traffic on schedule. |
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