October 22, 2005:
Blast preparation and Roadway Removal
Mickey Rogers, the owner of Advanced Blasting Services, LLC.
has the subcontract for dropping the concrete bridge supports. This
morning, Mickey helped me understand the preparation process for dropping
these supports. I had seen his team a month ago when they were preparing
for a test blast (D6 column on Drum Island) but this was the first time
to get some insights into the process.
Here is an overview of the work site. To the left, Testa is removing
roadway segments from the Pearman while on the right, Mickey's team is
busy drilling patterned holes in preparation for dropping the support.
Here you can see the ABS team drilling on the right. These 2" holes are
8 feet deep into the columns and have to miss the embedded rebar. Without
being able to actually see where the rebar is, the job is a bit tedius as
the hole must be moved and redrilled should they encounter rebar before
reaching their 8 foot limit. In addition, when they reach the base, and
after the initial blast, they will drill 4" holes vertically down (60 feet)
into the foundation and then blast the foundation later.
Here is a closer view of the drilling team
Meanwhile, on the left, some more of Mickey's team are removing
the scaffolding and preparing to drill this column
Each time I return from the Mt Pleasant side, I always like to check
the Colemen Recycling Center. Note the height of the pile of rebar.
Nice work.
