Excavator to tear down 60-metre-high silo

A 14-ton excavator hung in the air in Norrtälje on Thursday. The machine was lifted up on top of the grey silo at the port in preparation for demolition work that begins next week.

Soon the tracks from the grain era in Norrtälje harbour will be gone. The pink and green silos were demolished last year to make way for residential housing, and now it’s time for the grey silo to come down too. The tower’s height – close to 60 meters – makes the work dramatic, and the excavator will need to break apart the silo from above.

“It happens with a hydraulic hammer and a concrete crusher that’s attached to the excavator,” says Andreas Karlsson, manager at NKR Demolition, which is carrying out the demolitions on behalf of Lantmännen Fastigheter.

The excavator will first knock down the uppermost five to seven metres of the silo. Then the demolition will continue with a wrecking ball that will knock down the silo walls. Further down, the crew will demolish the rest of the silo using a height cutter, which is an excavator equipped with a concrete crusher.

Demolishing a building with an excavator on the roof sounds more dangerous than it is, according to Andreas. NKR has used the approach in previous silo demolitions.

“We have done all of the necessary calculations and implemented a safety barrier,” he says. “In addition, we set up construction railings for those who work on the roof.”

The excavator will continue its work for a few weeks. The entire demolition work should be completed by midsummer.

Picture and text Norrtelje tidning 160428