Crunch time: an Illinois highway project calls on heavy-duty hydraulic attachments.

More than 24 million vehicles travel annually on a stretch of Interstate 74 that makes its way through Peoria, IlL, and the surrounding area. At times, the traffic crawls on a highway designed to handle only a fraction of today's traffic.

Built in the late 1950s, prior to the formation of the interstate highway system, 1-74 is no different than many other parts of the highway grid. Growing congestion and the wear and tear of time have led to fighting for federal funding to meet the challenges of major infrastructure improvements.

Construction delays often cause the motoring public to forget why they had asked for a better highway system. When this occurs, the Illinois DOT is quick to remind folks that 1-74 was originally constructed when Dwight Eisenhower was president, Ed Sullivan had the No. 1 television show, and The Beades didn't even exist yet. It was time to bite the bullet and, it was time for contractors like Terry Laible, owner of Terry Laible Excavating, Washburn, Ill. to demolish the old, antiquated structures, opening the way for new overpasses, new pavement, safer entrances and exit ramps and brighter lighting and beautification.

The I-74 pgrade has made its way through the home stretch this year as contractors race toward a December 2006 finish. It's crunch time--and subcontractor Terry Laible uses that phrase in the literal sense.

Laible says he's "crunching" (he prefers that term over crushing) approximately 40 bridges within the phases of this four-year demolition and construction process. He's tackling the job with a hydraulic multi-system jaw attachment that turns his excavator into aversatile demolition workhorse--even in tight spots where traffic is racing right next to his jobsite.

THE RIGHT FIT

Among the machines Laible uses is an 892 model excavator by John Deere, Moline, Ill., equipped with an MS25R hydraulic multi-system jaw made by Breaker Technology Inc. (BTI), Thornbury, Ontario, Canada.

For the 1-74 bridge demolition, Laible consulted with Martin Equipment of Illinois Inc., a long-time John Deere and BTI dealership with 10 locations in Illinois and adjacent states.

The dealership recommended the use of the BTI MS25R, over the traditional use of a hydraulic hammer, for a variety of reasons. Laible's No. 1 obstacle is working efficiently within a small jobsite next to a moving lane of traffic. "The problem with a hydraulic hammer on this job is that you can't position the excavator properly. You can't square up correctly to the specific area we're breaking on the bridge. To work safely away from moving traffic, we're sitting on a 45-degree angle, and in that position, the chisel on a big hammer just glances off the concrete," says Laible.

By using the MS25R, Laible averages just a two-day timeframe to demolish an entire vaulted bridge abutment, crush the material to a transportable size, and load it onto a truck.

Laible commonly switches between the pulverizer jaw and the demolition jaw set, the latter being used when more rebar is present. The jaws can be changed in the field in one to two hours, he says. When using the pulverizer set, he is working with a 31.5-inch jaw opening and 104.5 tons of crushing force at its outer tips.

"This unit just grabs a hold of that concrete wall and crunches it, cutting the rebar all at the same time," Laible comments. "Importantly, unlike the use of a hydraulic hammer, it does it all without any concrete debris splattering into the traffic lane," he adds.

The unit's replaceable teeth are another time-saver, he says. "Instead of the old way of taking a welder out on the site, and hardsurfacing the teeth for several hours, every other day--we can take a hammer and a punch, pound out a pin, and the tooth falls out. It's just like changing a tooth on a backhoe bucket."

A WINNING HAND

As there are many different contractors and many different pieces of equipment being used on the massive 1-74 project, Laible has had the opportunity to gauge his performance against others, and his BTI-made jaw against competitive options.

"Some of the other units are the same size but they don't have near the amount of power," says Laible. "You can watch some of these units hitting resistance. They simply will not break some of this material. My unit may slow down when it hits resistance, but it will continue to crunch material," adds Laible, who attributes this to its two-cylinder design (vs. a one-cylinder offering on some comparable models).

The design factor delivers a higher damping force, he says. Greater strength is then maintained through the complete stroke, and the maximum force is obtained at the maximum jaw opening. A speed valve provides fast open and close times.

BTI engineers say they have designed the MS25R with a large bearing arrangement that incorporates a double row of balls with a large diameter for increased life and less maintenance. Additionally, the unit features well-protected cylinder rods and hydraulic components for long-term reliability.

Laible and other contractors, who work these heavy highway demolition projects day after day and year by year, know that they have to meet deadlines and operate with maximum cost-efficiency. Combining an excavator with a multi-system attachment tool creates a powerful package--one that allows contractors to minimize labor and downtime, increase productivity and do the job profitably.

The author submitted this story on behalf of Breaker Technology Inc., Thornbury, Ontario, Canada.