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Launch Systems and Titan VIB Dismantlement and Demolition
Rollover of 210-foot Umbilical Tower
Project Details:
- Client: United States Air Force
- Location: Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Contaminants: Asbestos, Lead-based Paint, PCBs, Universal Wastes (mercury, chemicals, etc.)
- Contract Value: About $4.4 Million
Related Services
Description of Work
Cape Canaveral Air Force Base required the dismantlement and demolition of many of its outdated Atlas and Titan rocket facilities. The work encompassed eight facilities on the military base, including Atlas Rocket launch platforms, gas storage structures, the entry control building, assembly point building, Titan Rocket Vertical Integration Building (VIB), storage, railroad tracks, security tower, and concrete drives.
The Titan Rocket VIB building (240-feet high x 300-feet wide x 275-feet deep) was used to assemble up to four rockets at one time. The main portion of the building had four rocket assembly cells with retractable gantry platforms that wrapped around the rockets. MARCOR's work included torch cutting the structural steel via crane baskets, dropping the steel to the ground, and transporting the steel to an on-site landfill. The structural steel was coated with hazardous PCB-based paint (over 50 ppm) and could not be recycled. In all, approximately 10,000 tons of structural steel were landfilled and 3,000 tons were recycled.
The Atlas Rocket Launch Complexes, 36A and 36B, were two 1960-series rocket pads that were last used in 2003. MARCOR was contracted to demolish the Launch Systems Facilities (LSF), the mobile service towers (MSTs) that pick up the rockets and move them to the launch pads, and the umbilical towers (UTs), which stabilize and feed propellants to the rocket just prior to launch. MARCOR's work also included demolition of numerous support buildings for these pads. The MSTs that moved the rockets into position weighed 2,700 and 2,500 tons each, and 80% of the structural from these was recovered for recycling.
Following precision rollover of the tall MST and UT units, excavators with shears cut and pulled the structural members free. Two additional excavators with grapples assisted the shears in moving the freed steel. (Limited torch cutting facilitated the removal process.) Recovered steel was sized as appropriate, then stockpiled for loading and transport. Concrete from walls, ramp areas, and the large "flame bucket" (designed to contain rocket launch heat and flames) were broken apart and excavated down to two feet below grade. The removed concrete was then crushed and used to fill voids, with any excess taken off-site for recycling. All disturbed areas were then graded, covered with topsoil, and seeded.
