November 22, 2005:
Harvesting girders
One thing that I have learned from the Unbuilding team is that nothing
is routine. Processes that seem to me to be fairly fixed are, in reality,
subject to unseen challenges. Today the issue was aligning the lift bar
over the center of the concrete girder. From here, you can see the
juxtaposition of the crane / barge and the shore - and the girders. So
there is some difficulty in aligning the lift bar when looking from below.
Never-the-less, Bob McCabe and his team are adjusting, talking, phoning etc
to get both teams synchronized. Here the ironworkers are coupling the
lift bar to the girder. I have a rather jerky
video by stiching
photos together. Maybe it will bring a few smiles.
The girder is ready for detachment from the pier cap
Jack rolls in with his shear
Takes a bite or two which frees the girder
Then the lift starts - you can see the closer edge. Also, note that
there are two shackles on the far end and three on this end - to provide
a way to pivot the end of the girder up (my speculation).
Then the crane operator rotates his boom
while Brad, our safety man, looks at the process
The girder is lowered and uncoupled from the lift bar
and raised for attachment to the next girder
Just to improve the centering of the lift bar, time to bring out the
tape measure and add a bit of precision to the adjustment
Then the slings are adjusted
the right sling is a bit uncooperative
while Jack (shear opeartor), Scotty (fork lift operator) and Brad look on
Then Jack moves in to divide the girder into 4 segments with a few well placed
bites
and a deeper bite
and suddenly - a girder fragment
which Jack picks up
passes to Scotty
who transports it down the ramp
and deposits it in the girder harvest (for transplantation to a reef)
A look at the harvest - not bad for highway work
and bye bye for today