Throughout the month of July, both of the project’s tower cranes were lowered, dismantled, and removed from the site. The photo above of a few boom sections is all that remains of the once-600-foot-high east tower crane that was – along with its counterpart on the west tower – both the tallest one used for an infrastructure project in the U.S. and the tallest structure in Long Beach during its run.
So, what happened to both tower cranes after they completed their service at the Bridge Project? Where did they go? Unlike the blue and orange mobile scaffolding systems (MSSes) which were scrapped after they completed their service, the tower cranes were sold to another construction project that needs the service of the tower cranes. Tower cranes of this type are sold based on the height (number of boom sections). Since the next construction project does not need all 600 feet of boom, a few sections are left behind. And these sections will eventually find a home on another construction project where a taller crane is needed.
After the tower cranes were dismantled and taken away, crews will demolish their foundations. As you can imagine, the size of each foundation required to support a 600-foot-high tower crane and the loads it lifted is enormous. It took weeks to construct the foundations. In a matter of days, they will be demolished and removed.
