Overview

Liberty Industrial was engaged to carry out the dismantling and removal of the B48 Liquor Burning Stack at Alcoa’s facility in Wagerup, Western Australia. The project involved the stabilisation of the dilapidated stack and staged dismantling using two large hydraulic cranes.

Challenges

The B48 Liquor Burning Stack was severely dilapidated and most sections were corroded from its original 10mm wall thickness to 3mm. Some sections were completely corroded.
Securing the stack to maintain stability after the removal of the first piece.
The enormity of the crane sections meant that boom deflection was unavoidable with two cranes working close to each other.
To allow other stacks in the surrounding environment to function as usual, complete removal works were required to be complete within a 12-day time frame.
Work flow was interrupted at times to avoid the fumes from other stacks blowing towards the wire ropes of the cranes.

Robust Solutions/Exceptional Outcomes

Robust solutions

A massive 500t hydraulic crane with 60 meters of main boom and 91 meters of fly was utilised to remove the stack sections.
A 250t crane was used to gain access.
Our team undertook structural assessment and monitoring to assess the environmental performance and structural integrity of the shortened stack after the removal of the first piece.
Extensive stage planning was undertaken to ensure that there were no collisions between the two cranes.

Exceptional outcomes

Our team engineered a solution to maintain stack stability at all times during the dismantling process and completed the project without any incident. Our safe, reliable and affordable solution allowed the project to be completed on schedule despite various challenges.

Value Add

Demolition Simulation and Modelling

With exclusive license to demonstrate using Extreme Loading® for Structures (ELS) software developed by Applied Sciences International (ASI).

Deconstruction

Use of best approach demolition and dismantling such as explosive using world class fleet, safety and engineering methodologies in explosives and rigging.