Where inches count

Lexington, KY (May, 2009)  PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, worked on a one and a half mile-long section of the East-West Expressway, SR 408, into downtown Orlando recently. Over 190,000 vehicles a day use this thoroughfare and another sixty thousand use the lower access roads. Maintaining traffic flow was critical but it left little room for working. Because the site was so constricted, PCL used four small-but-mighty Link-Belt crawler cranes. Two 80 ton (72.6 mt) 138 HSL’s, a 110 ton (99.8 mt) 218 HSL, and the 50 ton (50 mt) 108 HYLAB 5 made the job easier and safer.

“It’s the first time in my 25 years that I’m using this many smaller cranes,” said Project Superintendent Bryce Faust. “They have become the most versatile machines on the job. The Link-Belts can move around without a whole lot of hindrance to us and the travelling public, which is our top priority here. We do not want to interfere with the revenue of tolls or the flow of traffic and yet we still need to effectively do our job and do it safely. We are a zero safety incident company for many years now, and we intend to keep it that way.”

“Where inches count while working on the existing roadway, the crawler cranes are the answer. We have very tight right-of-way restrictions here—maybe 20 feet (6 m)—so the size of the crane was important. They had to work within the existing right-of-way or within a current lane and shoulder closure. That meant the smaller the better as long as it had the reach and capacity to lift, drive, or extract the thousands of feet of sheet pile or H-beams needed to help build the barrier walls or pier footings and piers,” he continued.

One aspect of the project is widening the Lake Underhill Bridge along with its approaches, ramps, and overpasses within the existing right-of-way. This widening project will take no additional land or add extra right-of-way.

Barrier walls as high as 20 feet (6 m) will contain the additional 36 foot (11 m) extended expressway with aesthetic cladding for a pleasing appearance. Work also includes the construction of sound walls, and architectural treatments.

Over 12,000 feet (657.6 m) of barrier wall will be required going in both directions. Sections of temporary sheeting may be from 180 to 400 linear feet (55  to 121.9 m) long, driven from the closed off lane and shoulder. This leaves little room to keep the crane from swinging into traffic and to store the sheets.

The procedure for the barrier walls was straightforward. They installed the temporary sheeting beyond the shoulder and excavated the existing earthen embankment so they had room to build the cast-in-place retaining wall. Then they backfilled behind the new cast-in-place wall, and removed the temporary piling. The crane and the removed sheeting then went forward to the next site.

The 108 HYLAB 5 and 138 HSL spent a lot of time in the closed off lane. “The normal right-of-way is about 20 feet (6 m) or just big enough for the 138 HSL with tracks extended,” explained Faust. “The 17 foot wide (5.18 m) footprint allows for stacked sheets and 45 degree crane swing. When we have less space, we get the 108 HYLAB 5 to come in and drive the sheet pile. That crane only takes up about 13 feet (4 m) with tracks extended. No other type crane would fit the requirement. The Link-Belt cranes are compact and hydraulically driven, so they are a smooth operating machine. Operators like them for their comfort and roominess,” Faust continued.

The 138 HSL crane was equipped with a 120 feet (36.6 m) of boom. When extracting the piling, it exerted about 24,000 pounds (886.2 kg) of pull on the sheets. The vibratory hammer and individual sheet weighed 12,000 pounds (5 443 m) . The crane was working along the wall at a 45 to 50 foot (13.7 to 15 m) radius, usually at a 68 degree boom angle.

While working on the Lake Underhill Bridge, the 218 HSL crane sat on six attached floats forming a barge with spuds next to the bridge. The 110 ton (99.8 mt) crane with 140 feet (42.7 m) of boom supplied rebar and placed a concrete paver on the widened section. For the 10,000 pound (4 536 kg) paver, the 218, at a 47 foot (14.3 m) radius and a 68 degree boom angle, swung 180 degrees onto the bridge. The 143 acre (58 ha), ancient sinkhole lake requires some of the longest piling in the southeastern United States. The 30 inch (.76 m) concrete pile were over 300 feet (91.4 m) long and driven to refusal.

Meanwhile, the 50 ton (50 mt) 108 HYLAB 5 kept busy with sheet pile. But when a small area was excavated from an existing bridge abutment for a pier template, the 108, with 90 feet (27.4 m) of boom, drove six 50 foot (15.2 m) H-beams with a vibratory hammer. It worked at a 29 foot (9 m) radius and a 79.3 degree boom angle. Beam and hammer weighed 14,300 pounds (6 486.4 kg). The pier template measured 11 by 12 feet (3.4 by 3.7 m) with beams spaced on five-foot (1.5 m) centers.

“The cranes have worked out well,” Faust concluded. “They are maneuverable, mobile, sturdy, stable on our sand, and versatile. They can do more work in the smaller spaces we have available. Kelly Tractor, the dealer, has done a good job servicing them and we have a good relationship with them. We’re looking forward to continuing that, and the Link-Belts are the right tools for the job.”

As PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. works to alleviate traffic congestion ranked as eighth worst in the country, they have created a culture of safety. “Safety is not as complicated as people make it out to be,” Faust explains. “If you have the people and the people follow the process and program, then they take it home with them and it becomes second nature to them—like putting on their boots.”

Nor is it complicated to use smaller machines to fit smaller spaces, especially when getting ahead of the game in safety and production. For PCL, inches count.