Great Inventions - Demolition Machines
- 6 years ago
Demolition is the tearing down of buildings and other man-made structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use purposes.
For small buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three stories high, demolition is a rather simple process. The building is pulled down either manually or mechanically using large hydraulic equipment: elevated work platforms, cranes, excavators or bulldozers. Larger buildings may require the use of a wrecking ball, a heavy weight on a cable that is swung by a crane into the side of the buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry, but are less easily controlled and often less efficient than other methods. Newer methods may use rotational hydraulic shears and silenced rock-breakers attached to excavators to cut or break through wood, steel, and concrete. The use of shears is especially common when flame cutting would be dangerous.
The tallest planned demolition of a building was the 47-story Singer Building in New York City, which was built in 1908 and torn down in 1967–1968 to be replaced by One Liberty Plaza.
Breaker (hydraulic)
A breaker is a powerful percussion hammer fitted to an excavator for demolishing concrete structures or rocks. It is powered by an auxiliary hydraulic system from the excavator, which is fitted with a foot-operated valve for this purpose. Additionally, demolition crews employ the hoe ram for jobs too large for jackhammering or areas where blasting is not possible due to safety or environmental issues.
Breakers are often referred to as "hammers", "peckers", "hoe rams" or "hoe rammers." These terms are popular and commonly used amongst construction/demolition workers.
The first[citation needed] hydraulic breaker "Hydraulikhammer HM 400" was invented in 1967 by German company Krupp (today German company Atlas Copco) in Essen.
Long reach excavators are often confused with high reach demolition machines – but the two products are very different. Long reach machines are not suitable for the high side twisting forces that can be exerted by demolition attachments and many demolition machines are unstable at large radius – so they are often assisted with electronic cut off devices that restrict the operating radius of the machine. Long reach machines excel at dredging operations where large quantities of material needs to be removed from underwater while the physical plant stays above water.
A long reach excavator being used to demolish an office building in Rosslyn, Virginia
The high reach excavator is a development of the excavator with an especially long boom arm, that is primarily used for demolition. Instead of excavating ditches, the high reach excavator is designed to reach the upper stories of buildings that are being demolished and pull down the structure in a controlled fashion. It has largely replaced the wrecking ball as the primary tool for demolition.
For small buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three stories high, demolition is a rather simple process. The building is pulled down either manually or mechanically using large hydraulic equipment: elevated work platforms, cranes, excavators or bulldozers. Larger buildings may require the use of a wrecking ball, a heavy weight on a cable that is swung by a crane into the side of the buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry, but are less easily controlled and often less efficient than other methods. Newer methods may use rotational hydraulic shears and silenced rock-breakers attached to excavators to cut or break through wood, steel, and concrete. The use of shears is especially common when flame cutting would be dangerous.
The tallest planned demolition of a building was the 47-story Singer Building in New York City, which was built in 1908 and torn down in 1967–1968 to be replaced by One Liberty Plaza.
Breaker (hydraulic)
A breaker is a powerful percussion hammer fitted to an excavator for demolishing concrete structures or rocks. It is powered by an auxiliary hydraulic system from the excavator, which is fitted with a foot-operated valve for this purpose. Additionally, demolition crews employ the hoe ram for jobs too large for jackhammering or areas where blasting is not possible due to safety or environmental issues.
Breakers are often referred to as "hammers", "peckers", "hoe rams" or "hoe rammers." These terms are popular and commonly used amongst construction/demolition workers.
The first[citation needed] hydraulic breaker "Hydraulikhammer HM 400" was invented in 1967 by German company Krupp (today German company Atlas Copco) in Essen.
Long reach excavators are often confused with high reach demolition machines – but the two products are very different. Long reach machines are not suitable for the high side twisting forces that can be exerted by demolition attachments and many demolition machines are unstable at large radius – so they are often assisted with electronic cut off devices that restrict the operating radius of the machine. Long reach machines excel at dredging operations where large quantities of material needs to be removed from underwater while the physical plant stays above water.
A long reach excavator being used to demolish an office building in Rosslyn, Virginia
The high reach excavator is a development of the excavator with an especially long boom arm, that is primarily used for demolition. Instead of excavating ditches, the high reach excavator is designed to reach the upper stories of buildings that are being demolished and pull down the structure in a controlled fashion. It has largely replaced the wrecking ball as the primary tool for demolition.