The WRECKING CREW – Demolition Pros in Action | Full Documentary

germany's infrastructure is falling apart countless buildings bridges and roads are crumbling and need to be torn down everyone thinks demolition is easy but i'd say demolition is sometimes harder than building something new these demolition experts have a true giant at their side the buddha bhd 3010 is one of the biggest and most powerful excavators around pretty awesome it's a giant but it will also need finesse two factory buildings side by side one has to come down while the other must remain untouched don't pull pinch it this entire structure is shaking the balconies on this 42 meter high rise need to be dismantled they're decrepit and dangerous it's a tall order some of the concrete is 30 centimetres thick these multi-ton slabs need to come down ideally quickly in order to disturb the residents as little as possible it's holiday travel season but the a8 is shut down the demolition experts have to remove an autobahn bridge overnight we have 13 hours to remove everything and set it back up but a technical defect has put the mission at risk he said that a hose is bust over on the excavator can the crew prevent a traffic meltdown [Music] what's going on [Music] this is one of germany's busiest transportation junctions the intel triangle near rosenheim in bavaria a bridge over the a8 autobahn needs to be torn down it's a challenge for the 30-member crew they've got just one night to complete the work they'll have to plan it all perfectly but they're a well-oiled team then good luck to all of you i hope it all goes well and stay safe everyone let's do this chief coordinator florian andretta and his right hand man dominique eisenhower are finalizing the plan you take the rosenheim side with the three excavators and i'll stay on the munich side with the other two when we bring in the trucks with a gravel we'll have to make sure they get it right to keep the traffic interruption to a minimum demolition crews at highway sites have to work fast it's a high-pressure job andre some of the other crews at other bridges didn't finish till midday absolutely it's absolute chaos when something goes wrong i hope we'll finish on schedule the highway authority will shut down the a8 from 6 pm to 7 the next morning so the crew will have 13 hours to prepare tear down the massive bridge and remove the rubble now it's time to get started okay go let's get started [Music] the barrier has to be removed first we'll start there fleece the first step involves covering the roadway with a geotextile fleece 800 square meters of it i'll bring in the gravel the fleece and the gravel tipped on top of it will protect the delicate tarmac surface keep going turn around back there while you reload before get going he's behind you go ahead one directing the crew is much like directing an orchestra a complex symphony of man and machine this with so many machines and such a large crew you run the risk they'll start making their own decisions about what to do where you have to direct them otherwise you'll end up with chaos right next to that then the caterpillar will come so where's the excavator where is he where's zeppa gone too the crew have to distribute 900 tons of gravel on the road a protective layer about 60 centimeters deep that will allow the excavators to approach the bridge without damaging the roadway the guard rails are also in the way and will be temporarily removed they're removing them then we'll finish the gravel and bring in the excavators i hope excavators and two caterpillars are ready and waiting first the crew will remove the bridge's railings they'll be recycled so they have to be kept separate from the rubble it's a race against time the crew now has 12 hours to finish the job [Music] the town of degendoff in bavaria a factory building with a surface area of 4500 square meters is slated for demolition it's a tricky proposition because the factory hall right next to it is still in operation and it has to remain unscathed francesco akilano and his crew will have to be extremely careful that wall up there is just 10 centimeters thick the vibration might cause things up there to start separating chicago so the three of you go in there and monitor the demolition experts have an impressive assistant at their side with a 33 meter long boom arm and a weight of 155 tons the buddha bhd-3010 is one of the largest excavators in the world its huge reach makes it ideal for demolishing large structures but its weight can be an issue everyone thinks demolition is easy just let the excavator tear it down but i'd say demolition is sometimes harder than building something new we usually don't have any kind of plan or blueprint to work with every demolition job is a new challenge and decisions often need to be made on the spot the crew proceed carefully communication among the members of the team is key [Music] i'll go upstairs the steel girder goes into the other building we've got to be careful i'll give you instructions from up there okay in the factory building next door expensive industrial equipment is being produced this is a hazardous area no one is allowed here the area where the two halls connect is the trickiest part of the job [Music] you can see it here this structure is part of the roof of the building we're tearing down this is the building that stays so the building we're tearing down extends into that other building more than 20 centimeters deep the risky bit is that we have to detach this roof from outside quickly and then rebuild it all by hand but if it were easy anyone could do it francesco akilano will guide the demolition crew from up high he climbs the spiral staircase 35 meters above the ground okay okay we can start abahad i'm in position got it keep removing the roof yes be careful we're bumping the cross beam that goes in the wall spray water the stream of water will protect driver eberhat peshe from the dust that's kicked up he needs a clear view to avoid mistakes they have a manufacturing operation in there if something happens production grinds to a halt there's a lot of money at stake i don't even want to think about it we can't do any damage this is much more sale sleepless nights that's what this does to you [Music] [Music] the roof to your right is moving a bit [Music] during the demolition we try to interfere with the building structure as little as possible the factory hall yes two containers these days demolition sites have become recycling depots the crew separates metal wood concrete plastics and mixed waste each goes in its own container 30 years ago no one did this today we separate it all it costs money and takes time but we do it for the environment these are useful raw materials eberhard pascha needs to have an unimpeded view in order to guide the 7400 kilogram pincer of his excavator with precision now we'll move the front beam away he can tip the cab and have a better view that's one of the special things about this digger the cabin can be inclined and move forward so that he doesn't have to crane his neck the entire day to see what's what that's 30 meters high just imagine if you had to crane your neck all day he's moving that transverse beam to the left and right so that the roof comes down now he's got to work his way forward the giant excavator continues to inch forward francesco akilano is now under the roof and is giving orders don't pull it pinch it this entire structure's shaking in here the giant digger is now just a few meters from the factory hall a single wrong move could do millions of euros worth of damage the town of tafkirchen just south of munich a demolition crew is about to remove the balconies from this 1970s era high rise the balconies have deteriorated over the years and are now a hazard it's a challenging job the building is 42 meters high foreman hans bruna and his two crew members gunta maya and adrian gashi are about to tackle the first balcony [Music] the hype makes it tricky and so does working and communicating with the track mounted crane the crane will haul equipment to the top and later bring the balconies down piece by piece in these tight quarters maneuvering the crane is a challenge [Music] the crew are wearing fall protection equipment at heights like these a fall would be deadly first they climb the ladders that take them up the 12 story building to where they'll be working today it's not a job for the faint-hearted the crew are trying to remove larger sections at a time that will save time and cut down on the need for the jackhammers crane operator henry levin is bringing the first section down a 500 kilo window box is gently swaying on the hook up [Music] push it out and it's off the work requires total concentration if an unsecured section of a balcony were to fall to the ground it could do a lot of damage [Music] down not up it's tight so i'll left the drill a bit okay it's lucia it's not working okay careful careful now up slowly yeah slowly slowly okay that's all okay now i think we can do it yeah hold on pull it up so slowly up now up slowly bit more okay you can swing it out the side panel of the balcony was removed without difficulty from now on though things will get tricky that was the easy part easiest the next part is harder removing the floor they're standing on they've already set up supports to prop up each balcony from below this is our trial run we don't know if the balcony is connected to the building and if so how and will it be harder to remove it would be better if it's not connected because then we wouldn't need to free up the edges we could just use the crane to lift off the lower floors the crew is planning to dismantle the balcony floor slabs in one piece each one clocks in at more than a ton but the roof of the building might put a kink in the plan the crane might not be able to angle its way under the roof so they do a trial run using a dumpster as a stand-in the small dumpster is about as large as a floor slab if it fits under the roof that means the crew would be able to remove the heavy slabs that way too in theory that is it's now it's too tricky all right we'll leave it good good good foreman hans bruno decides to abandon the idea instead of removing the concrete slabs in one piece the crew will have to remove them the hard way time for lunch how difficult is it to jackhammer it's hard on your back when you have to bend over for long stretches you're happy to be able to stand up again i'm hungry let's go down reducing the slabs to rubble will cost a lot of time can the crew come up with a different solution the audubon construction site at the intel triangle near rosenheim the crew have to demolish this bridge overnight chief coordinator florian andreita brings three excavators into position on each side it's pouring the gravel they deposited also helps raise the excavators so that the hydraulic hammers can reach the top of the five meter high bridge then they'll have enough muscle to get the job done we're going to knock practically the entire bridge perimeter off as soon as that's done we'll begin with the bridge sections meaning we'll start knocking off the inside road surface by now there are six diggers all working at once for the site coordinator huge jobs like this with multiple areas under demolition always pose a safety challenge the worst thing would be if there was an accident or if we finish massively behind schedule a lot of responsibility rests on the shoulders of chief coordinator florian andretta he keeps a sharp eye on all the diggers so that he can step in if need be a concrete chunk could fall tip over and fall on the cabin that's the biggest danger right now some of those chunks are quite big and reinforced with steel so they form a bigger block that's why he's pulverizing it it's risky so you have to keep an eye on things and warn the digger operator straight away if that happens everything okay dominic no i need albert over there it's [Applause] stop stop now it's either a screw connection or the compression system okay now we can go the technical defect means valuable time will be lost the pressure mounts come on oh crap i can't believe this where's martin we have to fix this quickly we need that digger let's get nick spiderman right now work has stopped you in all right let's keep working keep going the mechanics need special tools but the service vehicle is parked on the other side of the bridge and has to do a big loop around the autobahn 20 precious minutes are lost but at least they found the problem the impact in the vibrations loosen the nut you don't want it to leak and all the oil to be pumped out the nuts are tightened and the digger can head back onto the job but 45 minutes have been lost valuable time can the demolition crew get back on schedule back in digging off the demolition crew has a difficult mission they're using a giant bhd-3010 excavator to tear down a factory hall without damaging the one next to it snow in april meter by meter the giant excavator crunches its way toward the second factory hall neighborhood yes i just saw that there's a cable rack behind that part hanging down over there it's connected to the building so you can't just pull on it we're going to have to take it off yes okay i'll cut off what i can see we'll use an angle grinder to disconnect it and then press forward the giant excavator can't carry out a complex job like this on its own there has to be a team to plan the work and pave the way i've asked him to pinch the front off without touching the cable rack we'll go up there with the lifting platform if he pulls on the cable rack they'll take the entire transverse beam along with it hard to say what would give away first the beam of the metal kai careful don't pull too hard i'll tell you when to stop it's firmly bolted to the transverse beam we don't want to yank it down [Music] pull the cable out all three at once higher higher you're not there yet higher higher [Music] let it go the crew has dismantled most of the 20-meter high roof leaving the neighboring building untouched but the next challenge lies ahead a steel transverse beam ends right next to an important spiral staircase oh it's going to be tight we don't want to damage the girders that support the spiral staircase otherwise the staircase might end up dangling in the air hey bob hey bob take the big one down and kyle secure it he's got to carefully place the pincer on the steel girder you know right so let's go okay can i secure it kind of i made the four kai one meter ahead good good clamp down all those kids all right let's go neighborhood everything okay yes yeah it looks good but you can see the force behind it clamp it kai pull it down [Music] hi slowly i think he's bringing it over there so it falls in the right direction and doesn't slam into the wall okay clamp down uh pretty cool huh a job well done the pincer unit alone weighs 7 400 kilos and at 360 kilos per square centimeter of force its jaw packs a punch slicing through steel girders like a knife through butter the excavator can bite off more than 10 tons at a time that load has to be released with great care always have to make sure that you break things off in a controlled fashion and that you know where they'll fall you don't want it to crash left or right into the wall or fall into a gas main [Music] so far the giant excavator hasn't done any real damage it's going smoothly but there's still a way to go back on the a8 it's 11 p.m the demolition crew has just eight more hours before they're scheduled to reopen the autobahn 40 meters of the bridge have already been dealt with but that was the easier part from now on the crew will be quite literally hitting the wall this is where the gun gets tough the abutment and the central pillar are an issue because the concrete is very old hard and dense after more than an hour clipping away at the abutment they haven't gotten very far it's costing us time we'll put more diggers on it i'll feel better once i see a bit of progress let's step back a bit the bridge is coming down the steel frame of the bridge is about 40 meters long it weighs about 15 or 20 tons but it's very slippery now we have to pull the bridge over there it's tricky so we have to watch out we'll have to attach it again stop the steel girders have corroded over the years one reason the bridge is being torn down everyone stand back next week they'll be cut into pieces put in a container and scraps we don't have time for that right now we'll do that away from the highway where we can dismantle everything without bothering anyone it's the only way now we'll clean up we'll start on the abutment in a moment so we'll see some progress soon we'll be fine it's still raining though the downpour is a blessing and a curse the crew are soaked to the bone but the water also keeps the demolition dust in check after one in the morning the crew have their hands full with the massive abutments the autobahn is scheduled to reopen in six hours this is a high traffic tourist region and taking the highway out of commission would create a bottleneck we've been at it for about an hour and are about halfway done on both sides massive concrete sections like this will always cost you time you can't make up especially when it's so solid a total of three thousand tons of steel and concrete need to be removed for a tough job like this coordinator florian andretta assembles a top-notch crew along with the machinery and demolition equipment to match the hydraulic hammers are subjected to extreme force their lifespan is just one year if you touch this you'd see it's very hot friction will lead to heat buildup sometimes when it gets too hot the tip will break that's a typical operator if you penetrate the concrete and move this back and forth it will break but it's pretty amazing how long they last without heavy-duty equipment like this the crew wouldn't stand a chance you can see it there those two diggers have brought that abutment to its knees in about three hours we'll be in good shape next the crew will dig up the foundation of the pillar first they'll see how deep it extends into the ground it goes down another half meter then we'll have reached our goal so things look good it's going great the concrete is soft but florian andretta spoke too soon the foundation goes deeper than he thought the crew spend more than an hour digging it out i've put them in the foundation is pretty deep that costs a lot of time but demolition sites are full of surprises you can't look under the ground after all the new trench between the two lanes could affect the stability of the entire autobahn now we'll get the rest out then we'll fill the trench with soil and seal it up so that the road doesn't subside the central pillar was time-consuming can the demolition crew finish the job by daybreak tough kitchen south of munich 40 meters up a demolition crew is removing some decaying concrete balconies the job is proving to be tougher than expected [Music] the concrete is really thick and hard only two of us can work on a slab at a time not four as we'd planned all right let's go after hours on the jackhammer there's a breakthrough a taste of what the crew is up against [Music] the demolition crew had hoped the job would be faster and easier with less noise to bother the residents i do feel really sorry for them but we can't help it so far one person's had a look outside but didn't say anything they know the balconies have to go there's no choice every apartment in the building is occupied the bolicheck family can't even hear themselves think we've already shut everything so we don't hear the noise as much here it's the worst no way you can open the window it's crazy tv radio you can't hear it and the windows are all nailed shut you can't even get a draft and it's summer what are you doing about it i try to get out as much as i can or just ignore it or focus on watching tv but you can't understand a word still the family knows the balconies have to come off although reinforcements have arrived adriangashi and guntamaya don't manage to dismantle the entire balcony by quitting time they've fallen quite short of their goal for the day [Music] yeah it was really tough the concrete was pretty hard and some of it was like 30 centimeters thick and when you get out your jackhammer you never know how it'll go you never know how hard the concrete is as we move down yeah it should get easier they still hope the crane will be able to lift out the lower balcony slabs in one piece that would save a lot of time we'll take out the entire slabs we won't jackhammer them to pieces we'll cut them loose and lift out the entire slab will this plan work or will they have to remove all 51 balconies with the jackhammer back in digging off the giant 150-ton digger is still at work a partly demolished warehouse has to be removed without damaging the neighboring building we have to make sure that doesn't collapse against the wall there are people inside there and machines for production the other digger is standing there to secure it that part is just resting against the other facade right what's left there is just resting against the factory wall they're not joined when he goes at it up there you'll see and that's what you meant yeah that's what i meant and that's uncontrolled nothing uncontrolled around here available abroad when you cut that you'll remove the support from there to there everything will tip over this it's the same construction as over there it's not joined to the other factory yeah that's the stabilizer the rest is gone that's why that funny bridge was here yeah okay kyle should pull that down so he can secure this then we can take down the steel beams the giant digger moves to the other side the dumpsters may weigh several tons each but they're gently lifted and set aside francesco aquilano isn't sure how to proceed [Music] those cables there are still live up there on the wall from the production line we can't damage anything there hey bernard the two rear beams run through here there's the third one you have to cut the pillar between the second and third we can try that or we pinch it behind the third and do the third afterward beam one beam two beam three that makes sense right yep we pinch off after the third the kai is he killed kai secures you pinch off and then we pull it over after the third if we pull too hard we'll take the sheeting with us because it's already yeah let's do it yeah let's go for it we have to be careful that we don't pull away too much that we don't take that there it's supposed to stay standing [Music] i'm through i also say this he stopped he's through the problem is that the roof there is now freestanding that's why the other digger is supporting it that's why we came up with a plan if he lets go now the whole thing could come down [Music] driver eberhard paschal has to change position again and approach from a new direction the crew has to make sure that any parts of the structure that fall don't hit the neighboring factory or its gas lines now he has to cut away the green section otherwise there will be a counter force the giant excavator chomps its way to the green main crossbeam hello but there's another problem nice and slow kai [Music] one's already bent okay then pull slowly francesco akilano hopes the stump will break off cleanly the team is quite tense nice and slow kai how's it going perfect great okay i'm going to let it go now die no damage on the factory [Music] yeah perfect amazing factory's all good just the way you want it all is good that's the way you want it it's a turning point the piles of twisted metal still have to be removed another job for the giant excavator driver eberhard pesha has been working with full concentration for seven hours it's grueling work that takes patience and strong nerves [Music] you can't rush things with a machine like this you have to take your time everything you do it's slow going it's mental labor not physical labor the demolition pros have done a good day's work have a good weekend yeah clean up and we're done tough kitchen near munich three weeks later hans bruno's crew has now removed the balconies from one side of the high rise but the height and the cramped quarters for the crane are still an issue we'd plan to position the crane here and dismantle two sides at once but the crane couldn't reach both sides so we're finishing side a and then we'll move on to sides b and c it turned out that a lot of the concrete slabs are attached by steel struts that means more work for the jack hammer and power saw they're checking if everything's already gone the crew has to play it safe all the steel struts have to be separated from the building otherwise they could be looking at serious damage the loose concrete slab is attached to steel cables and chains we slide out the arm lift it slowly stay in place even though there's stuff falling the concrete is still joined to the building in spots so we use the crowbars here and there is the crew are making a fresh attempt to do what they couldn't manage on the cramped top floors hoist out an entire concrete slab with the crane this time it works the huge slab is moving in one piece news this method will save a lot of time compared to jackhammering the slabs into [Music] pieces now we remove the debris and when it's all clean move to the next balcony they still need to clean up but from now on they'll be moving faster if all goes smoothly the crew will need just three more weeks to remove the 35 remaining balconies [Music] on the a8 the countdown continues the autobahn is due to reopen to traffic at 7 00 am the crew are still wrestling with the foundation of the dismantled bridge's center pillar which went deeper than expected now they've got only five hours left for cleanup i need my assistance to help with cleanup but they all seem to have left max where's christian we have to start the cleanup now cleanup means removing all the dirt and debris created by the demolition work it has to be gone by the time drivers arrive in the morning the diggers load the gravel back onto the trucks then they take the rubble to a nearby pit we're going to send the first diggers home we don't need them anymore you stay here and shovel everything together a special cleanup tool is about to go into action the two and a half ton backhoe with its flat surface it's perfect for scooping the gravel off the road changing the digger's attachment is a swift process and normally takes just two minutes whether it's hydraulic hammers concrete crushers or pulverizers for a job of this magnitude the latest technology is key without the latest equipment you'd be behind the times it would take too long we couldn't do it though they're pressed for time the driver makes some dry runs first if the road surface ends up damaged all their efforts would have been in vain if we damage anything the road would have to be closed again we'd be in trouble because then there's the problem of where to divert traffic there'd be no options left we've already narrowed down two lanes the traffic would be bottlenecked it's hard to believe that traffic will be rolling through here in just four and a half hours but florian andretta sticks to his plan the two diggers will shovel everything together and the big one will do the cleanup work another two hours go by at first light the cleanup work is starting to take shape much of the site is free of rubble now the spray trucks go into action they'll remove all remaining mud from the road 900 square meters of fleece and 700 cubic meters of gravel and backfill went into the job and the demolition left behind 850 cubic meters of concrete it'll be removed and reprocessed in the coming weeks coordinator florian andretta is tired but happy he's got a successful 20-hour shift behind him i can just let go once the sweepers get to work it's the home stretch for florian andreita i can drive home to my wife and kids now and join them at breakfast then i hit the sack all's well that ends well that's what counts at 7 00 am on the dot the road authorities reopened the autobahn thousands of vacationers will be able to make the drive south as if nothing had happened

Channel: WELT Documentary

Views: 503,334

Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, hd documentaries, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, full length documentaries, documentary film, top documentaries, reports, factual film, Action, Demolition, WRECKING, team, Bavarian, experts, demolition, crumbling, roads, bridges, buildings, report, germany

Id: KkMQcAn0Lbg

Length: 47min 50sec (2870 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021