Rear view of Hydro Trailer and Vac side by side.

As you can see we were a little short on space on this project. You could not even walk between the Vac Truck and the Hydro-demolition trailer.

A front view of the Hydro-Demolition robot with Roberto operating.

Here is the Hydro-Demolition Robot hard at work. This is a front view. With 3 X-Pumps churning out 48 GPM @ 36000 psi there is nothing to see but steam from the rear view.

Roberto doing some X-Pump maintenance.

Here Roberto is doing some maintenance on the High Pressure End of an X-Pump. As you can tell it was really bright on this Friday afternoon after raining all week long.

Justin stays hydrated as he operates the TracVac.

Here Justin has just returned to the operator position of the TracVac and ,after a quick drink for hydration, is ready to resume. Notice the netting that has been installed in the background. This helps prevent debris from reaching the live traffic on the other side.

The finish line.

This is not actually the end of the project but the Hydro-Demolition Robot has gone as far forward as it can. Time to move everything forward and start the next section.

Vac Truck discharge hose.

In addition to the Vacuum the TracVac is also provided with high pressure water to help with the cleaning operation via the Vac Truck’s on board 10k pump. Nearly 100% of the cleaning water is picked up by the powerful vacuum. When the debris body of the Vac Truck fills with water it needs to be discharged so that the cleaning operation can continue. In this case it is discharged out to the uncut portion of the bridge where it flows downhill to a drain that has been plumbed over to a series of settling tanks.

The tanks used for settling of the solids and PH control.

Here are the tanks used to allow the solids to settle out of the Hydro-Demolition water. Once the solids have been removed the water is treated with C02 to adjust the PH level before it is safely discharged to the ground.

The pit where the Vac Truck has dumped it's debris.

Here we see the rear of the Vac Truck still in it’s fully raised dumping position. The solids are typically emptied once or twice per shift. Even after pumping out as much water as possible before dumping a small amount remains trapped in the debris body. For this reason the pit is lined with a filter fabric to capture the solids from the water. At the end of the project the debris will be scooped out of the pit and hauled away for disposal in a designated area.

A closeup of the finished product.

Here is a closeup look at the finished product. The bridge deck has been cut, and all debris removed. The end result is a clean surface with rebar exposed but undamaged. Ready for the new surface to be poured.

Dam visible from the bridge.

Finally, here is the dam on the Black River that is visible from the bridge.

Best Technical Photo

Taken By: Bob Shearer   Location: Montreal Canada Job Type: Bridge Deck Scarification

Best Safety Photo

Taken By: Bob Shearer  Location: Dennison, TX  Job Type: Pipeline Cleaning

Editors Choice

Taken By: Matt Capezzuto  Location: Hackberry, LA  Job Type: LNG Storage Facility

Peoples Choice 1st Place

Taken By: Brad Foltin  Location: Chicago, IL  Job Type: Parking Garage

Peoples Choice 2nd Place

Taken By: Justin Elm  Location: Raleigh, NC  Job Type: Bridge Deck

Peoples Choice 3rd Place

Taken By: Sean Genzler  Location: Baltimore, MD  Job Type: Ventilation Shaft for Tunnel

Rampart Hydro Services of Pittsburgh, PA has recently completed one of largest continuous concrete hydro – demolition projects ever performed in the world on a large Parking Garage Rehabilitation. The hydrodemolition was performed as part of the preparation of the floor surface for Concrete Repair.

This project included the removal of 600,000 square feet of concrete from the upper level of the East Monroe Parking Garage in Chicago, IL. The depth of removal for this project was 4.5 inches. The rough dimensions of the garage floor were 1,000 feet by 600 feet. The hydrodemolition operation was completed in just over 130 working days, running on a six day per week schedule.

With over 1,000 columns located throughout the garage, Rampart’s Technicians were able to cut to within one inch of the vertical surface of each column, eliminating excessive labor for chipping around the columns. With the largest fleet of Ultra High Pressure Pumps in the world, Rampart dedicated twelve pumps for this project. Even with the enormous demand for production on this project; Rampart was able to meet the needs of all of our customers across the United States and Canada, throughout the duration of this project.

The services provided during the project included:

• Hydrodemolition
• Cleanup of debris generated by the hydrodemolition
• Wastewater Treatment of the water generated by the hydrodemolition and cleanup efforts

The Hydrodemolition portion of the massive project was completed four months in advance. This was accomplished largely due to the excellent communication between Rampart Hydro Services and the General Contractor. With Rampart’s experienced Technicians and superior Ultra High Pressure Water Blasters, no project is too large or too small. Rampart would like to thank our customers for providing us with this great opportunity and allowing us to continue to help repair America’s Infrastructure.

Below are some images from the project:

Before

During

After

Getting the Mole ready for action.

The Mole in action.

Neil W.

(Estimator)

In most cases, the entire surface area of the existing deck does not need to be Hydrodemolished, but only narrow full depth longitudinal trenches directly over the girders to expose the reinforcing steel.  From there the reinforcing can be cut which would allow for the uncut sections in between the beams to be simply lifted off preserving and re-using the beams in place.

Neil W.

(Estimator)

Sam Dickson

Sales Manager

The following photos depict the results of using ultra-high pressure water for removing the surface treatment from asphalt roadways.