Demo Project Ends Rocket Ride

As of late December, a pile of rubble remained waiting for recycling and disposal to make way for new uses of the site by space-related companies and government agencies.

Marcor is under contract with AMEC Earth and Environmental, which has been retained by the U.S. Air Force to demolish and dismantle a large series of outdated buildings and other structures once used in the U.S. space program.

The assembly building measured 245 feet high by 300 feet wide by 100 feet deep in the main section of the building where the rockets were assembled. It also consisted of five paneled doors measuring 40 feet by 50 feet and several low bays in the back of the structure where parts and equipment were kept for rocket assembly.

The Titan building demolition follows other projects Marcor has handled for AMEC and the U.S. Air Force, including, the “rollover” of a 191 feet high by 100 feet deep by 24 feet wide wall section that weighs between 1,200 and 1,300 tons. “I’ve been working this industry for 27 years and it is the heaviest rollover I’ve ever done,” says Mark Klotzbach, Marcor senior project manager.

The Marcor crew, under Klotzbach’s direction, notch-cut each of the six columns supporting the structure in one column line and attached wire rope slings from column to column. With the wire rope attached to 300- and 400-series excavators, the excavators pulled the wire rope until it was taut, and then popped out the supporting column. “We then pulled the wire rope attached to the next column until it was taut, and then popped that support out,” says Klotzbach. “This proceeded until the huge structure remained standing upright, but was supported by only one column at the end of the column line,” Klotzbach continues. “A structure of that size standing on one column, on one side, was quite a sight to see. The purpose of using this process [was] to control the demolition of the structure in a predictable manner.”

Marcor crews have also been busy working with the debris, using excavators with shears to cut up the steel and load it for recycling. Previously, Marcor removed the structural components of two Atlas rocket launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which included two towers that moved the rockets into position; two 190-foot towers that stabilized and fed propellants to the rockets prior to launch; and several other structures, including a concrete “flame bucket” designed to direct the rocket launch heat and flames.

Marcor Remediation performs a full range of contracting services including asbestos and lead hazard abatement, mold remediation, plant/process decommissioning and demolition, and restorative cleaning projects.