After all the photos I took, I've tried to arrange them in some order based on various topics I found interesting.
And a reminder from T.S. Eliot (East Coker from the Four Quartets)
Old men ought to be explorers Here and there does not matter We must be still and still moving Into another intensity For a further union, a deeper communion
April 2, 2005
The beginning of the end of the east tower crane.
April 8, 2005
Two lateral braces gone and growing down a bit.
April 9, 2005
Another lateral brace gone and slowly slowly growing
down a bit more. Its almost all over for the east tower crane.
April 14, 2005
Its almost all over for the east tower crane.
A section of the jib is resting on the main deck.
Everthing else is either on the barge or sleeping on a truck.
April 15, 2005
Its over - no crane, no barge, no left over pieces
April 12, 2005
The climbing unit - Watch the decreasing gap between the top of the climbing unit and the next tower segment as the climbing unit descends
See the top of the lower segment is about even with the lower "K" on the extracted tower segment.
Now the top of the lower segment is about 6 feet below the turrett.
And finally, the climing unit has finished this cycle.
The jack assembly that does all the work. This is a real engineering marvel. The jack assembly has 4 essential parts as I understand what is happening. There is the hydraulic cylinder, an upper and lower foot and a pivot that allows the hydraulic cylinder and lower foot to swing out. To lower (or raise) the climbing unit, the lower foot is positioned on one of the horizontal members of a tower segment. Hydraulic fluid is removed from the cylinder, thus lowering the climbing unit. This continues until the upper foot rests behind the lower foot. A little more lowering then frees the lower foot which can be pushed away from the tower and then repositioned on the next lower horizontal member of a tower segment. Each descending episode is about 5 feet - and 4 episodes = 20 feet, the height of a tower segment. Note the alignment of the upper foot with the horizontal brace on the inner tower segment as the next lowering-cycle starts.
Above, the upper foot is even with the horizontal brace of the sideways K. After a little descending action (below), the upper foot is about 6 inches below the horizontal brace of the sideways K.
A closer view of the movement of the upper foot. (I know, the colors are slighly off - the result of thinking I switched the white balance to automatic but in fact, managed to set it for indoor incandescent lamps. So I tried to reverse the color balance - just need a bit more practice. If you would like to try your hand Click to download the original.)
Here you can see the lower foot resting on the inner horizontal brace
And here, after a little more descending action, the upper foot is almost in position to transfer support from the hydraulic jack foot (lower) to the upper foot.
Here you can see the lower foot as it is being pushed off the internal horizontal brace - ready to descend another 5 feet. Click the image for the full resolution. You can see that the lower foot has dropped a few inches below the horizontal brace on the inner tower segment.
Before and after removal of 3 sections (color balance problems on the right)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
C. Frank Starmer