by special guest Ambassablogger, Suzanne, of the Airport Authority’s Real Estate Management Department
An historic event took place at San Diego International Airport, starting on Friday, May 21, 2010! The Terminal 2 East pedestrian bridge was demolished as part of The Green Build airport expansion project (the bridge removal allows for construction of a convenient dual-level roadway in front of Terminal 2 West). Check out the cool time-lapse video above of the event, which actually spanned nearly 24 hours. (Thanks to Wayne from Major Video Productions for making the cool video!)
Rich Kaslik, a project manager for The Green Build, said the key to the operation was getting traffic off the internal roadway by designing a detour, shown in the planning schematic below:
The roadway directly in front of Terminal 2 East was closed to traffic at 10:15 p.m. Friday, and the detour was opened. But before any demo work could begin, two feet of dirt was laid atop the roadway to help break the fall of the pedestrian bridge.
The actual demolition lasted approximately seven hours, beginning at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 22. Airport Authority contractor Kiewit & Sundt and its subcontractor, Miller Environmental, Inc., worked in concert to orchestrate the delicate removal of the bridge. The contractors had to work like synchronized swimmers in order to perfectly time the removal.
Special devices called hoe ram excavators strategically dissected the bridge to undermine the structure and columns, allowing for a controlled fall to the street. When it finally came down, Kaslik said with a smile in his voice, “It was a rush! You could feel the adrenaline pumping.”
Twelve laborious hours of cleanup followed, and shortly thereafter the roadway was reopened to traffic. Congratulations to The Green Build team on completing another huge milestone toward The Green Build opening in 2013!
Home Treat Alert: The mulitmedia feature above may not be accessible at work. But you can view the Ambassablog at home & check it out there.
Filed under: Suzanne (Real Estate Management Department), The Green Build: Immediate-Term Airport Development, Video Posts
Awesome job Mike and Dennis. We know who the real pros are. Take care guys. Best regards Don.