Demolition of Houston's 10-story Americana Tower Done Piece by Piece

Grant Mackay Demolition Company completes the selective demolition of Houston’s Americana Tower

Grant Mackay worked with its structural engineer to remove mechanical equipment then metal structural components of the penthouse using Brokk robots and oxy/propane cutting equipment.
Grant Mackay worked with its structural engineer to remove mechanical equipment then metal structural components of the penthouse using Brokk robots and oxy/propane cutting equipment.
National Demolition Association

Information from this article was first published in Demolition Magazine and is being reused with permission from the National Demolition Association.

The 10-story concrete Americana Tower and penthouse structure sat atop a six-story parking structure located on Dallas Street in Houston.The 10-story concrete Americana Tower and penthouse structure sat atop a six-story parking structure located on Dallas Street in Houston.National Demolition AssociationIn November 2016, Grant Mackay Demolition Company was awarded the contract to perform selective demolition of the Americana Tower in downtown Houston. The 10-story concrete tower and penthouse structure sat atop a six-story parking structure located on Dallas Street. The tower had outlived its usefulness, and the owners’ plan was to remove the tower and continue to use the remaining parking structure. National Demolition Association (NDA) member Grant Mackay was chosen to perform the demolition work because of its ability to perform and complete uniquely difficult and challenging projects safely and ahead of schedule.

The demolition of the tower took just over a year to complete, beginning in November 2016 and finishing in December 2017.

After planning/coordination meetings with the contractor, engineer, city and owner were completed, crews began to install shoring in the basement level beneath sidewalks in order to help support the weight of demolition equipment and mast climbers. Crews installed mast climbers — two on each side of the penthouse. Barricades were put in place to maintain lane closures on Dallas/Travis and Milam streets. A debris chute was constructed in the tower near the center from the top of the tower to the basement to facilitate the removal of demo concrete and debris. Having the debris chute in the center of the building eliminated the handling of debris at the building exterior, therefore minimizing the impact to public and traffic.

Demolition began at the top in the penthouse. Grant Mackay worked with its structural engineer to remove mechanical equipment then metal structural components of the penthouse using Brokk robots and oxy/propane cutting equipment. Steel and construction debris were processed/sized then loaded into hoppers staged on the four mast climbers that had been installed on each side of the penthouse. Debris was then lowered to the parking structure’s top deck where it was taken by forklift down to street level and loaded into roll-off bins in the barricaded staging area. Finally, it was trucked off-site to the recycler.

During demolition of the penthouse, mechanical area installation continued of eight more mast climbers being installed on the perimeter of the tower, four on the Dallas Street side, two on Milam Street and two on Travis Street. On one side of the penthouse, scaffolding was utilized, as the adjacent building did not allow for the installation of a mast climber. The mast climbers were used for any necessary perimeter work such as glass removal, separations and removal of asbestos containing brick. Screens were installed on them to ensure no debris would fall to the streets below.

Upon completion of the penthouse, demolition began on the tower, starting with the Brokk robots with hydraulic hammers demolishing the concrete floor slabs on the 10th floor then the concrete/rebar beams and columns following in the demolition sequence. Demolition activities were coordinated so that processing, cleanup and removal of concrete and rebar were achieved. The concrete debris was removed from the demo area using PT 30 track loaders to dump into a chute that had been constructed near the middle of the building. The chute exited in the basement where skid steer loaders were ready to stockpile and then load out the concrete into trucks to be taken for recycling. The debris chute incorporated a red/green light system at the top and basement level that was used in conjunction with operator-controlled radios. This made for safe operation of concrete and debris removal. Rebar that was generated from the demolition was processed/sized, loaded into the hoppers on the mast climbers using PT 30 track loaders, lowered to the top deck of the parking structure and taken by forklift down to street level, loaded into roll-off bins in the staging area, then trucked to the recycler.

Grant Mackay had 26 of its trained and experienced operators and laborers onsite.Grant Mackay had 26 of its trained and experienced operators and laborers onsite.National Demolition AssociationPrior to commencing demolition, the elevator cabs were lowered to the basement level for demolition at the end of the project. As the demolition of the 10th floor was completed, around the elevator core and debris chute area, a second Grant Mackay crew worked on demolishing the elevator tracks and shaft on that floor. The debris chute was lowered one level at this time in preparation for the next floor’s demo. This demolition procedure was repeated floor by floor until the demo of the tower was complete.

Throughout the demolition, Grant Mackay worked with an abatement company to remediate asbestos. This process required the sequencing of areas to be demoed in order to maintain schedule.

To complete the project safely and on time Grant Mackay had 26 of its trained and experienced operators and laborers on site.

Before the project started, and throughout the project, there were many challenges. Some of the biggest ones were ensuring that demo debris stayed within the footprint of the structure. Coordinating deliveries and material haul-out with minimal impact to the public was always a challenge. Having to move barricades daily to accommodate traffic flow and coordinating all aspects of the demolition and removal of material to keep the project on track were challenging as well. Weather was a challenge at times, too, with Hurricane Harvey hitting the Houston area late in the year there was flooding to deal with.

Overall, Grant Mackay considers the Americana Tower demolition another one of its successful projects, having been completed safely and ahead of schedule.

Project statistics

  • Amount of concrete taken to recycler: 17,000 tons
  • Amount of metal taken to recycler: 1,100 tons

Equipment used

  • 6 Brokk electric/hydraulic robots with hydraulic breakers/attachments
  • 9 PT 30 track loaders
  • 4 skid steer loaders
  • 2 mini excavators
  • 2 forklifts
  • 12 mast climbers
  • Shoring components
  • Scissor lifts
  • Roll-off bin trucks
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