Construction site of the week – Demolition of a chimney with a spider excavator

From mid-April to mid-May, a reinforced concrete chimney was dismantled in Frankfurt am Main by our member company MB Spezialabbruch GmbH & Co. KG.

The approximately 70-metre-high chimney was located right next to industrial buildings and an operating transformer station, which could not be damaged. The company therefore decided to dismantle it using a remote-controlled demolition robot. The approx. 15-ton demolition machine was placed on the mouth of the chimney using a telescopic crane. It was controlled remotely from the climbing mast platform. The operating personnel were therefore outside the demolition zone and operated the spider excavator, which was equipped with a demolition hammer, by radio from a safe distance. The excavator has six separately controllable, height-adjustable legs, which can compensate for the different levels of the demolition edge during the process.

To ensure that the trained personnel could carry out the work safely, fall protection and a safety zone were set up around the reinforced concrete chimney to secure the area below. The employees were instructed on the special features of the demolition site at height. In addition, supplementary risk assessments were carried out on site every day.

The demolition itself was carried out in small sections. This demolition method significantly reduced dust and noise emissions. The approximately 1,000 tons of concrete produced were recycled and sent for reuse.

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Photos: MB Spezialabbruch GmbH & Co. KG