Concrete removal

German contractor BTS GmbH made use of Brokk remote control capabilities during the partial deconstruction of a former sanitary products factory in Schiltach in the Black Forest region of Germany. The facility, owned by Hansgrohe, is being remodelled into a corporate centre boasting exhibition and meeting rooms, an audimax cinema and a museum.

This requires the stripping of two three storey staircases and the removal of reinforced concrete columns and binding beams in the upper floor at the front of the building. The reinforced concrete building stands immediately adjacent to other building on the factory complex, in which work had to continue uninterrupted.

This required a minimum of noise, dust and vibration generation, in addition to the maximum possible level of safety.

Using a Darda CC 420 concrete crusher mounted on a Brokk 180 demolition robot proved to be an ideal solution. According to BTS, the major advantage offered by the 420 is the large jaw opening of 420 mm allied to the tool's low weight of just 240 kg (528 lb). It is able to process concrete construction elements.

This proved capable of dealing with the heavy loadbearing beams found in the building.

In total, 125 m³ of brickwork and 180 m3 of concrete were removed, along with associated rebar, in addition to steel elements with a maximum width of 28 mm. It took 40 days to complete the contract, comfortably within the contract deadline–using the Brock with its crusher reduced the number of cutting operations by half, with only a few separation cuts required between the building elements that were to be removed and the rest of the structure.