A coker unit at a refinery in Kansas needed to be dismantled and a process area cleared to create space for a new unit. Due to its proximity to adjacent live units, typical demolition methods could not be used. Barnhart developed a plan to use a crawler crane and rigging methods to pull the structure down in large sections so the demolition crew could segment at ground level.
Heavy lifts included nine steel structural sections, two concrete sections and four vessels. The largest structural steel segment was 50’ long x 40’ wide x 30’ tall and weighed 205,000 pounds. All of the steel was coated in lead paint. In addition to the 660-ton crawler crane, the crew used a 240-ton all-terrain crane, a 900-ton all-terrain crane and a 100-ton rough terrain crane for the project.
The largest vessel weighed 365,000 pounds and the largest section of concrete foundation weighed 315,000 pounds.
The entire project spanned 73 working days next to live process equipment. The project was completed safely and on time.