Cianbro Construction routinely handles projects that are a bit out of the ordinary.
In the past, the company has done everything from construction of floating offshore wind turbines, to installing 230 miles of electrical transmission lines and the replacement of thrusters on a massive oil-drilling ship. So when the search was on for a contractor to erect an observation wheel near Washington, D.C., Cianbro led the list.
But the project’s logistical challenges—for example, working at the end of a long, narrow pier—taxed even Cianbro’s specialized equipment inventory.
To get the access and reach it needed for several facets of the job, Cianbro turned to Genie, which had just introduced its 180-ft. SX-180 boom lift. Armed with that newfound capability, the project is proceeding on pace. Despite some weather-related challenges, the Capital Wheel should be open for Memorial Day 2014.
The idea of an observation wheel as a tourist draw dates back to 1893, when the first wheel, designed and built by George Ferris, Jr., wowed attendees at the Chicago World’s Fair. Since then, the scale and sophistication of observation wheels has grown steadily, with landmark structures in London (The London Eye), China (Star of Nanchang), and Singapore (Singapore Flyer). To date, the largest wheel of all is the recently opened, 550-ft.-tall High Roller in Las Vegas.
At 175 ft., the new Capital Wheel that Cianbro is now erecting will offer views of some of Washington D.C.’s most iconic sights: the White House, Capitol building, National Mall, and Arlington National Cemetery. It is 165 ft. in diameter and features 42 enclosed, climate-controlled gondolas that each seat eight people.
It sits in National Harbor, a 300-acre multi-use development on the shore of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Md., just south of Washington, D.C. The wheel’s location is a large part of the reason Cianbro is heading up the project, according to Aric Dreher, the company’s project manager.
“Working between 2006 and 2008, we performed all of the marine construction— the piers, the floating docks, and so on—on National Harbor,” Dreher says. “That was the first time we worked with the Peterson Companies, the project owner, and it went really well. Based on their knowledge of what we could do and the equipment we could bring to bear, when the Capital Wheel job came around, we were the first ones they called. Today, we are the general contractor as well as the construction manager, and we couldn’t be happier with the way things are going.”
Work on the Capital Wheel started with the installation of a 150-ton steel-grid base. Individual components for the base were fabricated in Cianbro’s Baltimore yard, then sent by barge to the Potomac River construction site. While barging ultimately proved to be the best method of transporting the material, there was a point when the decision looked sketchy, says Dreher.
“Shortly after kicking off the project in January, we had everything for the base loaded onto the barges and ready to go,” he says. “We were only waiting for a few beams to arrive from the galvanizer. But right after we loaded them, the temperatures plummeted, the Chesapeake Bay froze over, and the Coast Guard put shipping restrictions in place. It was three weeks before we were allowed to transport again, which threw a wrench in the schedule. But as soon as the weather broke, we were moving and have been attacking the schedule aggressively ever since.”
After the base had been constructed, the structure’s tower legs were erected, followed by installation of other ride components, such as the axle, spokes, ring beams, and lights. The pre-determined construction sequence—and being located at the end of a 600-ft. pier—dictated the way the rest of the project could proceed.
On a normal job site, Cianbro could have reached the height of the tower legs and components to be assembled with a standard-sized boom lift, but on this site access was another matter entirely, says Dreher.
“If we were putting this up on land under normal circumstances, we’d have no issues accessing the axle and spoke connections with a standard 85-ft. boom lift,” Dreher says. “But, because we are on a pier and had to first install the base steel structure, we were left with only two spots from which a boom could operate in order to have access to both sides of the wheel. And on one of those sides we are set back more than 85 ft. and need to reach 90 ft. into the air over the top and in between the tower legs—far more than a conventional piece of equipment could achieve.”
Cianbro’s timing could not have been better. Genie was just debuting its 180-ft. SX-180 boom lift, which it bills as the highest reaching self-propelled boom in its product lineup.
Cianbro contacted US Markets Inc., an Elmhurst, Ill.-based equipment provider that is working closely with Genie to introduce the SX-180 into the market. According to Chad Cochrane, US Markets’ general manager, his company was able to deliver an SX-180 within Cianbro’s tight time frame.
“This was definitely a case of things lining up nicely for everyone,” says Cochrane. “We’d just taken delivery of one of the first SX-180s off Genie’s production line. Working closely with Genie’s field service team, we were able to satisfy Cianbro’s tight schedule, and ultimately be a part of this historic project.”
The Genie SX-180 boom lift was quickly loaded and delivered to the National Harbor site, where it made an immediate impact.
“The Genie boom, which we call ‘The Monster Lift,’ has nicely filled that gap between what our 135-ft. lift can and can’t reach,” says Cianbro’s Dreher. “It was instrumental in the assembly of the tower legs themselves, but one of the most crucial areas of the construction involves setting the wheel’s spokes into the hub or axle. The SX-180 allows us to get up and over the tower legs and then reach into the axle area to do each connection.”
That process is aided considerably by the SX-180’s 10-ft. rotating jib. Dreher says the jib and work platform are ideally sized for Cianbro’s needs and the articulation feature has been invaluable for maneuvering into position.
“It’s a level of accuracy and efficiency we never could have gotten with a [crane-supported] man basket and, again, a fixed boom lift is by far the safest way to do a job like this. According to our operators, the hydraulics are extremely smooth and synchronized, making work—even at that height—a breeze. My superintendent described us as having ‘the Cadillac of lifts’ and I’m inclined to agree with him. It is an impressive machine.”
Mostly to deal with weather-related delays, the schedule to erect the Capital Wheel has been aggressive, as Cianbro’s team meets every challenge and milestone. Dreher says teamwork and planning, coupled with the performance of equipment like the Genie SX-180 boom lift, has helped get them back on track—and keep them there.
“As a company we tend to go after the complex and challenging projects; the ones that most other companies avoid,” Dreher says. “So we knew we were the firm best-suited to tackle such a unique, high-profile job. To do that, we put together an impressive fleet of specialty equipment, but even we occasionally have to look elsewhere for help. Having the SX-180 lift wasn’t just a benefit; in my opinion, it was a real game changer.”
Despite all the unique work Cianbro has done over the years, Dreher says there is something very special about the Capital Wheel project, given its location and the national prominence it is sure to acquire.
“It is definitely great for Cianbro to be a part of this team,” he says. “All of us, from management to the craftsmen, are proud to have been a part of this unique project; it’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A lot of our people are from the Baltimore/D.C. area and will probably bring their families here at some point. How cool will it be to say you played a role in building the Capital Wheel? Very cool, I’d say.”
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
