Darda ROCK SPLITTERS

Application Report - Demolition of Rock and Natural Stone

Rock demolition - demolition of a hazardous rock overhang above a post office

The Job:
The North American town of Pomeroy stands on the Ohio River. Pomeroy is dominated by a steep rock wall which runs parallel with the river and features an overhang near the top. The local post office building, positioned directly beneath the overhang, had already been damaged on a number of occasions by falling rocks. Customers using the building were also at risk. As a result, it was decided that the overhang must go. It measured about 15 m in length by about 8 m in width and was located at a height of 21 m above the river.

The requirements:
Since the overhang was difficult to get at, both from above and below, it could not be tackled with large demolition equipment. Explosives were too dangerous. A Darda hydraulic rock and concrete splitter was therefore used.

The solution:
Observing the strictest safety precautions, workers were roped down to the rock face, where they drilled the necessary holes with hand-held hammer drills. The hydraulic power unit for the splitter remained in position on top of the overhang and was connected to the splitting cylinders by long hoselines. The workers split out pieces of rock and dropped them into a trench. In this way, the overhang was demo-lished quickly without any vibrations, flying stones or falling pieces of rock.