Well I'm done with bulk pushing they want to drag there feet moving me up so I'm gone. I'm working for a Bridge builder doing demo and grading for the Galveston Causeway. Only 1 year left in the project and I don't travel so I'll be looking for a new job after this one...I think. Haven't done an real demo yet just been putting in a retaining wall.
And here are some pic of the bridge work. The old piles are there the south bound lanes where I'm standing on some of whats left of the north. I don't want to be the guy running that crane on that walkway...
Great Pictures Nice pictures. I hear Galveston is one of the coolest places in TX? What kind of equipment they got you running?
I wouldn't live there, but its a nice place to visit. I have a Case 460 hoe and 850 dozer that I run. I'm going to try and get some more pics when I start doing the demo.
Well I got to start on the demo I started with trying to remove the old bridge supports. The first 4 I could reach from shore, but they want me to do them with bucket. After the first one I told them this was a bad idea I needed the hammer. They wanted me to do the other 3, and I broke off 1 tooth and shank and had a crack on another. They put the hammer on and wanted me to do the next 12 becaues the water wasn't over 11/2 deep, but there was no bottom to the mud. In the one pic you can see my tracks sunk even though I'm sitting on 3' worth of large concrete chunks. I stopped after 7 I was just sinking to fast.
These are me demoing the bridge. I run both hoes and a small JD loader they said if I want help they could have there other operators help me. You can see the Large dent in the hoe with the hammer from there other "operators" among lots of other damage, so I think I'll be just fine thank you. I take off the road surface 1 span at a time and some of its supports, and they have a muncher for the cranes to do everything structural. Then they clamshell that out of the water and up on to the next section of road. Then I clean the bar out of it and load the trucks/dumpsters bar and concrete. Have I mentioned I can't swim...
nice pics , but must make for a long a day in and out of the machines
Bridge Demo Really awesome pictures, and glad to see that you're back in the seat doing demo again. Looks like a pretty tough and intricate job, John. They should have just listened to you about the hammer in the first place. Keep us posted about the progress taking out the old bridge, Dozerboy. And try to have fun on the job too.
Cool Pictures !!! With that stupid wavy guard rail I cant see anything when I go over the causeway. Why don't you suggest to your foreman that they get you an excavator on pontoons so you could get out farther in the water!! :stirthepot
That's a good idea I could just row myself over there. I don't want to hear anything about how I park my iron the boss told to park it that way. Apparently he has a magic hammer that needs to left vertical... The stuff really hit the fan today. The tide has been so low that ships have been hitting "stuff" in the channel where we demoed the old bridge. OOOPS Glad I'm not the guy running the clam :shf When they where clamming today they got a bit of mud and got several crabs with it. To bad I don't eat them, so I through them back.
Just wait till we get a good northern with no rain and the tide out to see the water low, it was low today but Ive seen it a lot lower ( 2 ft or so ) I was wondering about it, because when i go over the bridge I see a orange boom taller than the cranes He probably doesnt want the point to fall out and roll into the water :bash Hey save them crabs I'll throw them in a gumbo!!
How big are the crabs you are pulling out?
Great pics, interesting work going on there.
Ive heard from a few people that its best to keep the hammer vertical when you park the machine :beatsme why?
The crabs are about 4"-6" I've never heard to park a hammer like that I think its BS. Not that I know it all, but with the guys I've worked for in the past I think I would of been told before. The mechanic agrees with me not that I trust him, but what ever the boss wants.
Kinda off topic but since we're talking about parking hoes with attachments, do you guys set a hoepac down like you would hammer with it or do you curl it in so it sits on its side?
I always curled them up. Didn't like to stretch the dampners for long periods of time.
All three of our hammers are always layed down. I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it, as I have little time on hammers, but Lash's post makes sense.
i just started with a new company out of jersey , and all of our hammers are vertical when we park the machines at night, cant figure out why, i was alwyas told to lay them down flat at the at the end of th day, but they insist on keeping themvertical.:beatsme :Banghead Jordan
Well maybe there is something to it then... Myself I like to park a hoe so I can check the Hyd fluid in the morning. Sorry Cascade hoepac?:beatsme
If you have an oiler it would make sense to park your hammer vertical for him to grease it. Other than that I see no reason. Do you have a vertical stand to store it when it is off the hoe?
You know, stick mounted vibratory plate compactors for backhoes and excavators. Allied dubbed their's the Hoe-Pac and it's like Jeep, Kleenex, or Bobcat, anything similiar even if produced by another company is called by the original, or at least the most common "household" name. I guess there's nothing wrong with laying a hoepac down, except on some the houses are routed funny and you can smash the mounting block pretty easy. Hammers I'd think maybe house routing wouldn't come into play.
Auto greaser No they don't and I too though it was funny that they want it vertical but don't have a stand. Ok Cascade I get ya, really it been so long since I've ran one I don't remember what I was told. I think we laid them on there side and hoses ain't an issue on any of the hammers I've ever used.
I've tested this theory both ways, (in prime conditions, might i add, Washington state...) a vertically parked hammer gathers much less rain water than a horizontally parked hammer. it seems to be pretty common knowledge around here that water and hammers don't mix that well. Eric
Never thought about that
We park with our hammers laying down, but funny enough the boss says it's better to store them vertically. If we store one long term we stand it up.
#1 is the "Sledge-O-Matic" I didn't name it the crane drops it on the old columns to break them up so we can clam out the concrete below the channel floor. Some time he drops it from ~30' that it makes quite a thump and the bridge will shake. #2 Clamming #3 Crane using a muncher on the beams #4 Now that we are getting into the shallows they're clamming up a lot more mud. There is concrete in there really, but it good thing we have a contract that the Recycler has to take this "concrete". #5 this is the 2nd concrete truck to flip over on the temp. on ramp we have. I didn't make it over there with the camera to take pics, but I did catch it on the road. This one wasn't in that bad of shape, but the last one was a bit worse.
#1 Made it a ways the trussel is almost to land #2 The trussel #3 Toys #4 Had some help. He was ok, but he tracked all over and would drag the hoe all around while trying to munch. I just got done painting those beams before he went in there now my marks are almost gone. Boy he did love to grease that hoe I have never seen a 6" pipe of grease under the bearing of the house before. I though someone had stoled my case of grease, guess not. Now I have a different guy helping me. He pulls on the levers of the loader and I run the hoes its nice gives me time to nap. I think after this job I'm going to stay away from hammers for the most part. My shoulders are giving me lots of trouble. I don't know if it related or not, but I "pitched" a nerve and my left hand/arm has been going numb and tingling. I have been going to the doc and they're running some test. I think I'm a bit on the young side for problems like this, and it makes me nervous about the rest of my life.
Awesome bridge demo, Dozerboy. Thanks for posting the great pictures. Good to hear from you, man. :notworthy
Dozerboy do those Case excavators have a Diamond Equipment out of IL & IN sticker on them?
Yea we just got a new NPK big one a couple of feet taller than me on a 245and it has to be left vertical
Yes it is, IL is where HQ is.
Hey Dozerboy- Who is the general on that project? Is that a Williams Brothers gig? Is Cherry doing the concrete recycling?
No its Traylor Bros there not local, Southern Crush does the recycling. Are you familiar with Cherry, I'm thinking I might go work of them down the road?
Cherry Not familiar with them other than an article i read on them related to their use of Komatsu equip. Sounded like a pretty cool outfit.....
Cherry Cherry is an awesome demo outfit. they do incredible work. Just did a really cool shopping center job in houston. Leonard Cherry is the contact. He used to be head of the National Demolition Association.
Thanks wolf. I've heard good things about them, but I didn't know how creditable my source was.
More pics You can kind of see how I take the road deck off. At 8' sections at a time where the lateral bracing is until I've done one span between the columns which is about 60'. Normally I break 2 sections then rake the rebar up into a pile with the muncher and then do 2 more. The bar is all welded together so most of the time I rake the whole spans bar into a pile then tear it lose. The ball you see is only from 2 sections. It takes me 1 hr to do a section that way. Now were in a big push and they want fast, so I told them I could use the hammer to rake but its going to be hard on it. They said do it now it takes me 32 mins for a section.
That rat's nest must weight about 3 tons!
The gremlins left the guys out on the water and came after me. Ya'll ever see a idler break like that? I've also had 2 track pin fall out in days and knocked out 2 windows with the hammer. This company preaches safety like no other until where in a big push and the have no clue how dangerous this work is. First pic is our subs safety slope or lack of . Its only a straight vert 12' no big deal, but its right next to our 12' wide access rode. That my 12' wide 50 ton hoe has to track down and all of the demo material is hauled on with over loaded 10 wheelers. The dirt you see on the right is from the cave in in that side already. You can see after about 25' they started to leave a bench along side the road after I raised heck with my super the second time and told him I'd call the safety guy. I did take the dirt from the side and use it to kind of slope the area with no bench. The next one is a gal oil jug that was hit by a 6" piece of rebar at 30' being launched by littler hammer while the big one was down. Yet my super still like to stand and once have guys work within 15' of the hammer. I did warn all of them, but if they don't care...
Not sure but its all a 40 ton hoe can do to get all of the rebar from 1 span up off the ground and into a dumpster. Some of the spans have a extra section and I can only pick up half of ball at a time to get it in the dumpster.
Up here in washington when we had 2 ft of snow we still laid ours down flat?
Well I did it last week on the last span I had to shut down after working 10-14/7 days a week on the hammer killed my shoulder. Tendon problems I think. It was just a little sore if I wasn't running the hammer, but while hammering I couldn't stand the pain. They took me off it and brought in one of the leaver pullers to finish. I'm not sure what was more painful my shoulder or watch him running the hoe and finishing my job. I felt good the next day, but got chewed out when I hopped on the dozer they don't want me doing anything just "supervising". But it gave me time to take a few more pics, but I'm post them later the wife just got home.
Here 3 rolls of rebar about 85% of the rebar that is in one span anything small enough that can be crammed in a truck gets loaded out. Hammer the last of it See anything missing in this pic? What was missing I think this is a pile of bar or maybe its concrete.
Subs doing the dirt work The train tracks connected from the water to land. Explosives are here After they blew up the supports. Not a good pic, but a crane playing tug of war with a case dozer...I think they where just trying to get the twist out of the cable after a cable job.
I like these pics and they make that 460 look big and they put my teeth/shanks back on I was down to 3. The last one a retaining wall the has to be demoed, but they got in a hurry and built the new bridge over and right next it. I have a feeling that is going to be fun.
Cool Pics!
You don't need those pictures to help make that 460 look big, those things are big for anyone who knows Excavators. I know their are much larger Excavators but still they are a great sized machine.
Well this one was winding down so I started a new job here are the last of the pics. We tried to bring the larger concrete on to the land to be sized, but we where tearing up the rolloff boxes. After moving a few to land we decided to just pile them all up close to shore where I could get to them. last pic Lifting those 50K lb chunks of concrete gave our 3900W that sinking feeling. Just wait until those 90K lb pre-cast beams start showing up. We just kept fill in the ruts with crushed concrete that I was making with the mucher you can see a small pile of it on the right of the pic. The crane quit sinking for now after we put about 4' concrete down in the ruts.
Size all the concrete and demoed the enbutment now just to make a road in for the trucks and get it all move up to there I can load it out. At this time they still don't want me to run the hammer weeks after I hurt my shoulder there lever puller got the job done, but it was ugly. I got to clean up the mess. We still had that retaining wall to demo that the new bridge was built over. They asked me how to demo it I told them the 460 would fit under there to do it, but it would be VERY close. So they bring in a 580 with a hammer to demo the 2' thick 10' tall 30' long wall. Two weeks later and 15 hyd hoses I'm told to go down there I take care of it. I told them I ain't running the 580 I can do it with the 460. "Ok" 2 hrs. later I'm done.
Next bit of fun I was asked to dig up a pile that was in the middle of one of our drill shafts. Well a side of my trench caved in and broke the pile off 25' down. Thats how deep I had it exposed and all the reach I had with the 460. Fill it back we will deal with it later. Well later has come and the 460 is down and being sold. No problem I can do it with the 330 Case just need to bench myself down 8'. The problem I'm only 2' above sea level. Had to bring the crane over since they didn't want to bring matts because so much of the hole caved in from me sitting there I could no longer reach the pile.
Pile expose and slipping the choker on it to pull it out with the crane. Well the crane couldn't do it so we need to back fill the hole. Just shove it in with the dozer ain't no compacting this slop. Thats all I was there for they put a "T" row on the trussel to get the crane closer and get the crane boom angled away from the freeway. In case it comes down when they leave it hooked to the pile pulling it up over the weekend hoping to break the suction on the pile.
Dozerboy, do you have a photobucket account? Some real interesting jobs you are on!
Dozerboy, those are fine pictures and they give me an idea about a phase of construction work that I know nothing about. Looks like it would be hard to bid a project like that not knowing what you are going to run into. Experience I guess just like anything else.
No I don't sorry Ya I wouldn't have a clue where to start but they know there stuff as far as building bridges. They are a big company Traylor Bors .
only reason I asked dozerboy, is because with a photobucket account, you can turn your pics.
Oh ya I can do that but I must have miss that one or didn't know how to do it then.
no big deal, just wanted to try and be of some help. keep the great pics commin!
The reason you store a hammer standing up is, when the hammer is on it's side the weight of the heavy piston forms a flat spot on the seals and when you start it up in the morning oil can seep past the flat spot and do premature damage to the seals, it does make a difference I have rebuilt many hammers with flat seals!
Thanks doc
i remeber that project....Traylor Brothers did the Demo...At that time i worked for WPI we did all the Allied Rammer Hammer repairs(G100, G90 under water hammers)..
long term is the key pharse.....store hammer standing prevents seal damage due to piston laying stationary for long periods causing flats spots which will cause leakage once operation starts up agaign
when working in water, it is recommened to stand hammer up at end of day so water can drain......
I'm not sure if thats a good thing that you remember them. Did they keep you busy? They had one of those "Just get it done" mottos.
yeah they keep us busy till they could not pay there bills.....
No wonder the hammers where all going to hell by the end of the job. That does surprise me though they weren't penny pinches really. They did like to run stuff until it was ruined and then have it totally rebuilt.
That is why when they bid the job they included the cost of the breaker in the bid.....