The Week of October 08, 2018 — Will This be the Week That ‘Cheese’ is Dismantled?

Rumor has it that ‘Cheese’ the crane will be dismantled this week after a one-week delay. At first it was thought that the crane would come down on Monday, October 8, but that date was pushed back one day due to the Columbus Day holiday. Early Tuesday morning the dismantling crew (all crane operators in their own right) arrived to begin tearing down the crane.

An early morning view of the Children’s Hospital tower from camera 6. Both cranes will be idle today. Yesterday (October 7, 2018), a two story addition was affixed to the aerial lift lattice tower, which allows the car to reach the 12th floor decking.

[edsanimate_start entry_animation_type= “flash” entry_delay= “0” entry_duration= “6” entry_timing= “linear” exit_animation_type= “” exit_delay= “” exit_duration= “” exit_timing= “” animation_repeat= “1” keep= “yes” animate_on= “load” scroll_offset= “” custom_css_class= “”]

Goodbye Cheese ~ Adiós Quéso

[edsanimate_end]

Boom Down: With the boom down on the ground, the process of dismantling begins. A telescopic boom crane will be used during the operation to assist in separating the sections and hoisting them on the transport flatbeds (6:59:19 AM).

By the time I arrived (9:10 AM) on the top floor of the Faculty Medical Office parking structure P4, the boom of the crane was laid out on the ground and several of the sections had been disconnected and were being hoisted onto flatbed trucks.

The Video

(Over Two Hours of Video Condensed Down to Just Under Twelve Minutes)

By the time, I was able to set up the video equipment, the dismantling operation had been underway for about three hours. However, what had transpired was the rather mundane disassembly of the latticed boom up to the jib boom. I was very anxious to video the rest of the process, and I arrived just in time to film the most interesting part of the exercise. What you see is very dangerous work. The parts are large, bulky, and they are heavy (as in weighing tons). It requires skill and an awareness of ones surroundings to maneuver around the equipment. Each man has a task, each man is part of the team, and each man knows that time is money. Enjoy the video as you watch the well choreographed disassembly of  ‘Cheese.”

Even with the latticed boom sections removed from the jib boom (far right), the length of the boom would exceed 10-stories when raised. With the boom strewn on the ground, the once mighty crane that hoisted those heavy support beams, girders, and infill beams looks helpless, powerless, and useless. Yet it will rise again at another site.

The dismantlers prepare the jib boom to be separated from the main latticed boom.

Folding the jib strut, which is a tedious process. The enormity of the size is only realized when a man stands under the jib.

The machine’s superstructure and its parts sans the latticed boom.

The right track is carefully being separated from the superstructure.

The right track is being hoisted onto a lowboy trailer.

The machine superstructure, weighing in at about 200,000 pounds, sans the tracks is supported by four pedestals. The next step of maneuvering the low bed hauler between and under the superstructure takes patience and skill.

The superstructure machine sits on the lowboy gooseneck trailer which has a rear steering mechanism (note the rear of the trailer). As the superstructure is mounted to the trailer, the gantry is slowly being lowered onto the machine’s platform.