March 01, 2006:
The Cooper River is now Graceless
A Day for the Iron Workers
Summary of Today
Our favorite Ironworker acrobats have formally proclaimed that the
Cooper River is Graceless
and for a photo op via Sparky from guess where? -
Our fantastic iron workers put on quite a show for us.
(Mike's comment - what they will do for a photo)
and a different pose (sort of)
and from Frank's place on the barge
The beginning
and the end - Grace's main span - up the river
And a view of the Graceless Cooper River
Now for the main story
The day started early with Sparky, Cashman, Testa and Mammoet
We rode out with Captain Art - and the Eddie R
But Captain Pat left with the Capt. Gary before we left
and with the Ravenel and early sunrise
Sparky, Rip and the jack-up barge
Sparky and Cousin Arthur
A Graceful Cooper River (before) - 440 metric tons of pure gold
The Grace main span
Sunrise over Mt Pleasant
Mike, directing the lowering and Sparky on the Capt. Gary
Chris and Sonny - getting ready for some serious action
Mehrdad (the chief construction engineer with Weidlinger Associates),
Joe and Abdi - serious about today's plan
Joe in deep thought and Abdi looking at where the action will be
Another group of guys arriving and the ABS drilling team
Here Nugget and Stan are preparing the elevator
Sparky got a good view of my photo spot
Work starts with cutting the upper box girder on the main span side (east)
and west
while the
Cape May is positioned under the main span
and the lower box girder on the cantilever side (west)
and east side
The gap in the top box girder
The Mammoet assembly consists of two hydraulic jacks that lower the
main span 40 cm (about 16 inches) for each stroke of the piston. For
this job, only 4 jacks are required. When Mammoet retrieved the
Russian nuclear
submarine, Kursk 28 jacks were used.
Here is the piston in the up position
and in the down position
The beginning - 9:22 -
Lowering Grace Click for video (23 Mb mpg from 500 still images)
10:07
11:42
13:57
While the main span is being lowered - what to do? Fish of course,
using Randy's rod- and sharing the pleasure with the other iron
workers. Here is Stan taking a turn
After the main span is resting comfortably on the Cape May, tension is
reduced on the hoist cables
With the main span down, cut the cables - on the south side
and Nugget cutting on the north side
as seen by Sparky
Nothing is too good for Grace - a gold chain 100% tie down for the trip up
the river
Here is a pleased Cashman team
Derek, the great Mammoet who directs the Mammoet symphony,
discusses today's concert to Sparky
A pleased Derek
Carlos prepares the flag and Derek will disconnect the Mammoet control wires
and off they go
and the closing ceremony by the iron workers. Here Carlos erects an
American flag.
and the arriving East Team
Happy iron workers (Carlos, Sonny and Stan)
and where it all starts and ends - the East and West teams.
A gentle and graceful pushoff for Grace (
Click for a short video)
On her way home. Click for a video:
Up a lazy river
Bye bye, Grace
and the end
Bud Skidmore from SC ETV and I often cross paths and he has a different
view of the end: Grace on the Cape May
No more Grace
Ben Ingram caught the action from Patriot's Point
Cousin Arthur
And no Unbuilding story is complete without a progress report on
Tenacity of Purpose