Demolition In UAE! pages: 38-40 - Pdworld.com

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“Brokking” th way forward High reach demolition with a Brokk hanging from a crane. PDi Editor Andrei Bushmarin recently met with one of Russia’s young demolition companies Deconstruction North- West. The company was started in 2006 and in a few years showed tremendously fast growth. Text: Andrei Bushmarin Photo: Deconstruction North-West Many captains of industry, be they from the North America, Europe or Asia, have expressed surprise at their Russian counterparts’ young ages. It appears that vast fortunes and brilliant careers can be made much faster there than in the rest of the world. However, before jumping to any conclusions it should be recognised that this basically applies to those who started their careers in the 1990s. During that tumultuous, yet highly entrepreneurial decade, businesses sprouted like mushrooms after a downpour. When the Iron Curtain collapsed, a whole new generation of young and rigorous businessmen emerged, who began to import Western cutting-edge technologies into a country with the industrial base in a total shambles. The then Russia was awash with make-or-break opportunities for aspiring wheelers and dealers trying to make as much hay as possible while the pallid northern sun was shining. New millennium’s people Alexei Melnik and Alexei Kudryavtsev, who head St.Petersburgbased Deconstruction North-West, are young and both in their early 30s. Still, they were born just a few years too late to jump on the 90’s bandwagon. The other difference is that they have quite consciously chosen break over make and have no regrets. It was already six years into the new millennium, when the two launched their company dealing in Brokk robots and offering robotic demolition services in the northwestern part of Russia. Peculiarities of the national robotic demolition It is often said about Russia that it is a country that works in mysterious ways. This contention is highly debatable, but the way the Brokk business has gone there was just as special as one could have expected. While everywhere in the world construction has been, and remains, the main field of application for Brokk technology, in Russia it was steel mills and metallurgical plants that were first interested in robotic demolition. Thriving on high prices for steel and metals, they began to use Brokk robots to remove burnt-out linings from their furnaces. Russia’s construction society was largely unaware of robotic demolition, and Alexeis saw it as a promising niche. Having started out as a Brokk dealer in northwest Russia, The picture above shows the renovation of the Blagoveshchensky Bridge (former Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge) in St.Petersburg. they soon realized that performing demanding demolition jobs would be the best way to promote Brokk’s brand in the region. In the formative year of 2006, the company staff boasted just its two founders, also functioning as sales managers, a civil engineer and an operator of the only demonstration Brokk 180. By 2009 Deconstruction North-West had sold 15 robots in St.Petersburg and increased the personnel several-fold. When asked about the attitude of Russian specifiers towards Brokk, the managers said that despite interest from engineering quarters known for their open-mindedness, there is still a lot of backward thinking in the industry. Even now, many demolition projects in Russia are designed with manual techniques in mind, and both specifiers and contractors are reluctant to ditch the conventional methods that they have been using for decades. Sometimes it takes much convincing to make the specifiers see that they save virtually nothing by using obsolete and often dangerous solutions. To remain competitive and promote its cause, Deconstruction North-West has to do its Brokk jobs on the same price level as the manual demolishers. The technology’s efficiency and versatility help keep the operating costs down. As practice shows, Brokk is especially cost-effective when used together with other modern demolition methods like diamond cutting. Powerful, versatile and safe The old mentality may be dying hard but it is bound to go anyway. Deconstruction North-West has now solved enough difficult projects to prove Brokk’s superiority over timeconsuming and ineffective manual techniques. The most vivid example, perhaps, is the removal of the two top floors of a hotel in Vasilievsky Ostrov, one of the most original and romantic districts in St.Petersburg. On this job, the company worked alongside another demolition contractor. That company used dated impact methods, while Deconstruction North-West operated two Brokk 180 units. It was the modern-day approach of Deconstruction North-West that allowed its general contractor to complete their half of the job two months ahead of their 24 PDi • Is s u e 3 - 2009 • Au g - Se p t
e Dismantling of a World War II pillbox built right next to an operating bridge. Founding members and driving force behind Deconstruction North-West, from the left Alexei Kudryavtsev and Alexei Melnik. competitors. Operational safety ensured by the remote control option provided another invaluable advantage. Occasionally operators of the rival company were seen jack-hammering the beam on which they were standing. The very nature of Brokk rules out the possibility of such a gross violation of the most basic safety precautions. Robotic demolition also proved useful on a reconstruction project of both logistical and cultural value. The Blagoveshchensky bridge (aka the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge), which links Vasilievsky Ostrov with the mainland, was the first permanent bridge over the Neva River, the main water artery of St.Petersburg. The eight-span bridge is famous for its exquisite cast-iron railings. An expansive renovation project for the bridge started in 2006. Deconstruction North-West did its bit by helping dismantle a bridge’s abutment three weeks ahead of schedule using one Brokk 180. Safety was a major concern on this job, since all operations had to be performed on the bridge abutments’ edges, inches above the water surface, with the risk of personnel falling into the river. The hardness of the concrete presented another problem. The material, which had soaked up much water over the centuries, became so tough that even jackhammer drills were repeatedly broken. All attachments ablaze, a Brokk robot can pick on any manmade structure, no matter how formidable it may be. Even a World War II pillbox built near an operating bridge’s abutment on the outskirts of St.Petersburg could not withstand a Brokk. This defence facility was heavily reinforced with 36mm diameter rebar, steel channels, and frontal armour plates from cruiser guns. The specifier set a challenging task to dismantle the pillbox to a strict 10-day deadline. This requirement effectively rendered useless a demolition option involving hydraulic wedges, which was first considered, since it would take at least two to three weeks to accomplish the task that way. Diamond cutting was also evaluated and rejected because of its high cost on this particular project. Since the robotic demolition technique offered the best solution, both in terms of cost and deadline, it was chosen for the task, which Deconstruction North-West successfully completed. Brokk goes underground Metro is another industry in Russia that has appreciated the capabilities of robotic demolition, says Alexei Melnik. Brokk was an immediate success with the state entities responsible for underground public transportation. The state unitary enterprise St.Petersburg metro alone has bought seven Brokks in the last 18 months. The enterprise was amazed at the winning combination of efficacy, mobility and small size of Brokk machines. Robots can easily get to any hard-to-reach spots, which are numerous in the subway network. They can also be delivered underground within a matter of hours, which is totally unimaginable for cumbersome machinery traditionally used by the enterprise. Besides, robots can work from scaffolds in tunnels of any diameter, with their performances exceeding the designed parameters of metro’s maintenance equipment. The St.Petersburg Metro has recently commissioned four new stations in the city, a project on which Deconstruction North-West closely co-operated with the state enterprise on a consulting basis. “Greening” the demolition business For Deconstruction North-West, environment protection and green technologies are not merely the buzzwords of the day; it is a prerequisite for the company’s survival in the tough demolition market. “If a demolition firm wants to remain competitive, it is expected to provide its specifiers with the whole service package, from demolition to site clearance to management of often hazardous waste,” says Alexei Melnik. “Again, the Brokk technology proves indispensable here, since it precludes any contact with dangerous materials.” In line with this Deconstruction North- West pays special attention to ecological aspects of its demolition operations. It means using Brokks instead of labourers wherever possible, assisting in developing environmental feasibility studies, identifying hazard classes and performing other tasks associated with environment protection. Deconstruction North-West’s expertise also includes handling asbestos jobs. Asbestos figures high on the current list of industrial killers, and Brokk technology offers viable and safe solutions where other techniques may entail a real threat to health. Deconstruction North-West recently assisted on a job in St.Petersburg, which called for the removal of 5km of asbestos-lined pipework. With high wind sweeping through the site, operators’ safety was in serious jeopardy. Given this, robotic demolition was chosen as the only feasible approach. The robots equipped with shears cut the pipework into 5m sections, which were taken away for landfill. No labourer was involved in the job, the only men onsite being Brokk operators who wore PPE at all time. Having witnessed firsthand the competitive benefits of robotic demolition, many major players in Russia’s Northwest area now view it with a different perspective. With the Brokk idea firmly imbued in the local market’s collective mind, Deconstruction North-West is all set to expand its operations further a field. The company has recently announced its first project in Moscow. The management is positive that its marketing strategy will prove successful in the capital, too. www.deconstruction.ru A Brokk robot climbs the flight of stairs to the job site on a building’s 6th floor. Doing a Brokk job underground. Brokks became an immediate success with “the St.Petersburg metro”. Removal of asbestos-lined pipework on an eco-sensitive job in St.Petersburg. Is s u e 3 - 2009 • Au g - Se p t • PDi 25
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