When Persico Contracting and Trucking took on demolition and reconstruction of the Dykeman Street Bridge deck in Manhattan, “easy does it” was the only way to go.
Dykeman Street is a concrete arch bridge, in which the decking is actually attached to the concrete arches creating the span’s support. For that reason, wrecking crews must take extra care to avoid damaging the delicate archwork.
Unlike many contractors, Persico handles all aspects of bridge demolition and reconstruction.
Founded by Richard and Robert Persico 10 years ago, the Mount Vernon, NY, company that started with small jobs such as sidewalk installation has grown to handle about $20 million in projects annually, and has amassed an equipment fleet of more than five dozen units.
Selected as general contractor for the $8-million Dykeman Street job, Persico started work in December 2001, with completion slated for December 2002. The replacement bridge is being set up in phases, with each of three sections demolished and then reconstructed, one at a time.
Accessing the bridge deck has required a massive amount of scaffolding, and, as with most jobs in Manhattan, crews must work within a very constricted space. Because Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority owns the bridge but not the Henry Hudson Parkway, all work is confined strictly to the bridge area.
Using a hammer to break up the deck was not an option because the vibration and compaction would pose too much disturbance to the delicate, relatively sensitive bridge arches.
Although Persico believed a hydraulic multi-processor attached to an excavator would present the ideal solution, the company did not want to purchase something that expensive for just one job. When Persico’s primary rental supplier could not provide an affordable solution, the company turned to New Millennium Rentals Inc., a Newburgh, NY, based rental company specializing in filling needs that others can not.
Serving southern/metro New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania, New Millennium Rentals Inc. owns a substantial fleet of John Deere excavators with every conceivable attachment to fulfill the specialized needs of contractors. New Millennium also is the authorized dealer for various national manufacturers.
The various-sized John Deere excavators are fitted with attachments, such as hammers, long-reach fronts, hydraulic concrete pulverizers, grapples, rotating shears, and Allu crusher/screener buckets and more.
Highly recommended to Persico by other contractors, New Millennium was able to offer a 60,000-lb. (27,215 kg) John Deere 270LC excavator with a BTI MP40R multi-processor. The latter unit features a demolition head with 360-degree rotation and a 31-in. (79 cm) jaw opening. Best of all, New Millennium could make the units available when Persico needed them.
“There are not a lot of companies that offer the specialized equipment I do,” said Peter Menner, New Millennium’s owner. “That bridge with those columns meant they had to get a hydraulic pulverizer to handle the job because a hammer would have caused too much vibration. That’s when they sought me out.
“They called me up. The availability was good. We put it all together in a couple of days, and they were very satisfied with the way it turned out,” Menner said.
According to Clem Vinciguerra of Persico, “It was going to be very difficult for us to find this combination of excavator and attachment available. We were very pleased that New Millennium could make it available to us immediately and deliver it to us at our precise job site. Since the machine has been delivered it has performed as expected, breaking down the concrete from the deck to pieces of about 1 foot minus.”
The pieces of concrete and rebar are being separated, with the rebar being sent for recycling.
Persico is extremely pleased with the BTI multi-processor, whose breaking speed appears to rival that of a hammer, the tool typically used on a job of this size.
Vinciguerra added that the pulverizer cuts through rebar where a hammer can’t and breaks down the material in such a way that the usual cutting and welding becomes unnecessary.
At this point, Persico is eyeing whether to add such a unit to its permanent fleet.
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