Rigging Near Overhead Powerlines

Crane operation near overhead power lines is one of the most dangerous jobs a rigging crew can undertake. In fact, electrocution is the number one cause of crane-related fatalities, making compliance with OSHA standards and guidelines absolutely crucial when working in close proximity to overhead power lines.

Before equipment is brought to a jobsite near overhead power lines, a 360-degree hazard assessment inside the work zone must be completed. If it is determined that a crane could exceed minimum required distances, further action is required by the contractor. The first option is to coordinate with the power company to have the lines de-energized and visibly grounded. Line owners will sometimes opt to move the lines so that minimum clearance distance can be achieved. Both options require some preplanning as it may take some time to complete the necessary work.

OSHA requirements for working near overhead power lines that are not de-energized are clear cut. For power lines 50 kV or less, all parts of the crane, boom, rigging equipment, and loads carried must be kept at least 10 ft. away. This distance increases to 20 ft. for lines rated 50 kV to 350 kV, and 50 ft. for lines over 350 kV. If the voltage cannot be determined, cranes and rigging equipment must be kept at least 45 ft. away. A planning meeting with the crane operator and riggers must be conducted to review the location of the power lines and implement a rigging plan to prevent encroachment. All tag lines used must be non-conductive to prevent electrocution. An elevated warning line, barricade or line of electrocution hazard warning signs equipped with high-visibility flags must be erected 20 ft. from the power line in view of the crane operator. In addition, the rigging contractor must utilize at least one of the following: a dedicated spotter, proximity alarm, range control device, range of motion limiting device, and/or insulating link.

Crane operators and rigging crew members should be trained to work safely near overhead power lines and how to react if safety measures fail and contact is made. Dedicated spotters have the important responsibility to ensure that the minimum distance is not breach and thus must receive special training.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com

Weekend Rigging - Months in the Works

A large rigging project can be an immense undertaking. While the lift itself may only take a day or two, it is the culmination of weeks or even months of intense preparation and planning.

Large rigging projects are almost always done over a weekend during daylight hours. Early on, the rigging team must sit down with the client and other involved parties to first choose a date for the lift that leaves sufficient time to receive the equipment and/or materials to be rigged and to secure all of the necessary permits from local, county and state authorities. A permit may be required by the FAA depending on the project’s proximity to an airport, and many towns require local police be notified. Early project planning also includes visits from the firm’s crane engineer and rigging team to assess the jobsite and project details. The gathered information will be used to determine the size, type and reach of the crane and where it will be positioned, as well the quantity, weight and dimensions of each piece to be lifted. The rigging plan should include strict measures to avoid all electrical lines and other obstacles that may endanger or interfere with the project, as well as travel paths for each load.

With safety as the top priority of every lift, rigging team members conduct multiple meetings with job safety and security personnel in preparation for the lift. Work areas must be cordoned off, streets and parking areas barricaded, and police or security personnel may be needed to direct traffic. 

Delivery logistics for the crane and the equipment to be lifted can be quite challenging in and of itself. On a project R. Baker & Son recently completed, for example, the crane and its various parts were shipped to the jobsite on twenty separate flatbed tractor trailers. Crane assembly (which required the services of a second crane) took an entire day, and the air handler sections slated for installation on a third-story roof arrived on five additional tractor trailers. These loads, as on all projects, had to be marked, staged in order, and readied before the day of the lift. 

When the day finally arrives, the crane operator and all rigging personnel must be in position bright and early for work to commence – weather permitting. Foul weather – high winds in particular – can be a cause for postponement until the next day or two. If the weather is good, all of the extensive preparation should result in a safe, smooth, and successful project. 

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com 

Dismantling Clean and Green

Dismantling projects pose distinctly different sets of challenges depending on the industry. On pharmaceuticals projects, biological and chemical contaminants must be eliminated before dismantling can begin.

Pharmaceutical plants contain a variety of areas and equipment that may contain hazardous substances, growths, or residues. Epoxy countertops, sinks, fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, autoclaves, etc., can be found in laboratories. Process suites, which can differ widely depending on their function, may contain process piping, tanks, isolators, lyophilizers, downflow booths, and various others. Plant owners, contractors, process managers, industrial hygienists, and environment service providers must work together to identify areas and items that require cleaning and/or decontamination.

Once familiarized with the facility and its processes, the industrial hygienist will conduct thorough testing for contaminants and prescribe the precise decontamination process that must occur. This is done not only to ensure environmental and worker safety, but also to ready fixtures and equipment for reuse or resale. Decontaminated areas are then retested by the industrial hygienist and verified ready for dismantlement. Because work scope can sometimes change as a project progresses, continued teamwork among plant owners, industrial hygienists, and project contractors is essential to ensuring that newly identified problem areas are promptly tested and remediated before dismantlement.

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, as a multifaceted contractor whose specialties include both dismantling and environment services, can perform both the remediation of the facility as well as the dismantlement. Our dismantlement services include: decommissioning of equipment, rigging and match marking, machinery moving and transportation, plant relocation, reinstallation and millwright services, and asset recovery, and equipment resale. Environmental services include: surface cleaning, pipeline cleaning and pigging, column and vessel cleaning, tank cleaning, line flushing and first line breaks, HVAC and duct cleaning, non-ACM insulation removal, HEPA vacuum services, and power washing and steam cleaning of pipes and equipment.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com

Hydraulics: The Force Behind Rigging & Demolition

Hydraulics is the workhorse of modern rigging and demolition, providing the muscles that lift, steer and drive the cranes, excavators, breakers, and hammers used each day. But hydraulics is not a recent innovation. In fact, examples of hydraulic power go back more than 2,000 years to ancient Rome, where it was used in water clocks, water wheels and pumping systems.  In  the  17th  century,  French  mathematician  Blaise  Pascal  made the groundbreaking discovery that serves as the basis for  the  science  of  hydraulics.

Pascal’s  principle  states  that  when pressure is exerted at any point to a confined, incompressible  fluid,  there  is  an  equal  increase  in pressure  at  every other point in the container. Thus, when one piston in a simple hydraulic system is pushed down, the other piston is pushed  up.  Applied  to  a  more  complex  hydraulic  system,  Pascal’s principle allows forces to be multiplied. If a second piston has an area ten times that of the first, the force on the second piston is ten times greater, because the pressure is equally distributed on the larger piston’s entire surface area. The larger the surface of the second piston is in relation to the first, the greater the mechanical advantage.

Hydraulics  have  been  used  in  rigging  and  demolition  since  the  mid-19th  century,  when  cranes  powered  by  water  were  used to load coal onto barges. Nowadays, oil is the fluid most commonly  used  in  hydraulic  equipment.  On  any  given  day,  hydraulic equipment is present throughout R. Baker rigging and demolition projects, powering crane booms, telescoping sections,  and  outriggers,  excavator  steering,  booms  and  attachments, and on loaders, dump trucks, lulls, and hydrauic hammers. Wherever strength and force is required in our industry, hydraulics are overwhelmingly the power of choice.
 
About R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, a  Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)  in business since 1935, is a premier specialized contractor operating in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, with over one hundred employees and an exemplary safety record (we have been directly involved in four sites that received VPP OSHA Safety Awards). R. Baker & Son is financially strong, with bonding capabilities over $10 million. Capabilities include industrial and commercial demolition, rigging, machinery- and plant-moving, dismantling, decommissioning, plant and equipment relocation, interior demolition, selective demolition, warehousing, wrecking and razing, millwright, plant reconfigurations, heavy rigging, salvage, environmental services, remediation, decontamination, abatement, and investment and asset recovery.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com

Dismantling Clean and Green

Dismantling projects pose distinctly different sets of challenges depending on the industry. On pharmaceuticals projects, biological and chemical contaminants must be eliminated before dismantling can begin.

Pharmaceutical plants contain a variety of areas and equipment that may contain hazardous substances, growths, or residues. Epoxy countertops, sinks, fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, autoclaves, etc., can be found in laboratories. Process suites, which can differ widely depending on their function, may contain process piping, tanks, isolators, lyophilizers, downflow booths, and various others. Plant owners, contractors, process managers, industrial hygienists, and environment service providers must work together to identify areas and items that require cleaning and/or decontamination.

Once familiarized with the facility and its processes, the industrial hygienist will conduct thorough testing for contaminants and prescribe the precise decontamination process that must occur. This is done not only to ensure environmental and worker safety, but also to ready fixtures and equipment for reuse or resale. Decontaminated areas are then retested by the industrial hygienist and verified ready for dismantlement. Because work scope can sometimes change as a project progresses, continued teamwork among plant owners, industrial hygienists, and project contractors is essential to ensuring that newly identified problem areas are promptly tested and remediated before dismantlement.

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, as a multifaceted contractor whose specialties include both dismantling and environment services, can perform both the remediation of the facility as well as the dismantlement. Our dismantlement services include: decommissioning of equipment, rigging and match marking, machinery moving and transportation, plant relocation, reinstallation and millwright services, and asset recovery, and equipment resale. Environmental services include: surface cleaning, pipeline cleaning and pigging, column and vessel cleaning, tank cleaning, line flushing and first line breaks, HVAC and duct cleaning, non-ACM insulation removal, HEPA vacuum services, and power washing and steam cleaning of pipes and equipment.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com

Cleanroom Demolition Project

Interior demolition projects pose challenges of all kinds, some much more challenging than others. The challenge on one particular R. Baker & Son project was to perform extensive interior demolition in a space adjacent to multiple class-100 cleanrooms. The facility owners required that there could be no interruption to facility operation, which ran twenty-four hours a day, and that demolition activities would have no negative impact on the clean spaces.

To ensure that no dust or particulates would infiltrate the cleanrooms, R. Baker & Son’s team of demolition experts devised an ingenious vacuum airlock. A 35 ft. wide by 16 ft. high by 18-inch wide cavity was constructed from aluminum studs and drywall. The interior of the airlock was sealed with wall panels specially designed for clean rooms, and several ¾-inch holes were bored into both sides of the cavity to draw air in. Three HEPA exhaust fans were installed on the dirty side, drawing 1,500 CFM into the sealed cavity to create a vacuum. Differential pressure gauges installed on both sides of the void showed a constant negative pressure of a half inch, effectively preventing particulates from migrating from the work area to the clean spaces. The owner was fully satisfied with R. Baker & Son’s resourceful solution, and cleanrooms remained contaminant-free through the duration of the demolition project.

About R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, a  Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)  in business since 1935, is a premier specialized contractor operating in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, with over one hundred employees and an exemplary safety record (we have been directly involved in four sites that received VPP OSHA Safety Awards). R. Baker & Son is financially strong, with bonding capabilities over $10 million. Capabilities include industrial and commercial demolition, rigging, machinery- and plant-moving, dismantling, decommissioning, plant and equipment relocation, interior demolition, selective demolition, warehousing, wrecking and razing, millwright, plant reconfigurations, heavy rigging, salvage, environmental services, remediation, decontamination, abatement, and investment and asset recovery.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553
http://www.rbaker.com

Construction Machinery at NJ's Diggerland

Rigging and demolition is a serious business. Crane and heavy equipment operators, like those here at R. Baker & Son, are highly-trained, experienced specialists tasked with using powerful machines to perform challenging and potentially dangerous feats. It is a serious job, indeed, but even the most consummate rigging and demolition professionals still feel a certain thrill when piloting their massive machinery. They are living out their childhood fantasy.

Nowadays, kids don’t have to wait until adulthood to experience their construction and demolition dreams. At Diggerland USA, a hands-on construction themed adventure park located in West Berlin, New Jersey, kids and adults alike can drive, ride, and operate actual heavy machinery. Though there are no cranes for rigging enthusiasts, visitors can drive backhoes, skid steers, and steam rollers, take an off-road drive in an ARGO amphibious UTV, or dig a hole with an excavator. Mini-excavator attractions challenge riders to snatch rubber ducks from a pond, dig up hidden treasures, and knock over bowling pins. Diggerland has even converted heavy equipment into amusement rides, some meandering and gently turning in circles, others spinning and soaring for the less faint-of-heart. Diggerland also features a rock wall, a ropes course, a stunt show, an arcade, and a padded playground for tykes.

For the 18-and-over crowd, Diggerland recently unveiled Diggerland XL, where adults can operate unrestricted, full-size equipment with 1-on-1 instruction. Grownups can play a giant game of Jenga with a 12-ton wheel loader, dig holes and play basketball with a 26-ton excavator, and navigate an obstacle course that requires moving tires and grading earth with an 18-ton dozer.

Diggerland is situated in southwest New Jersey in West Berlin, a twenty minute drive from Philadelphia and about an hour and a half from New York. An R. Baker & Son demolition team member and his wife visited Diggerland recently with their three children and described their experience as “an absolute blast” that was well worth the trip.  www.diggerlandusa.com

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
1 Globe Court
Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-222-3553
www.rbaker.com