REPRINTED FROM CONCRETE OPENINGS, VOL. 15, NO. 1, MARCH 2006
Feature Story
Hand Sawing Gives Hotel
Renovation a Clean Finish
Operators Remove 140 Architectural Panels from Hotel Exterior
Left: The architectural wall panels gave the hotel a dated look.
Right: Operators cut the panels loose using a flush cut hand saw with a 20-inch-diameter blade.
C
onveniently located across the
street from Kansas State University, a busy campus with over
23,000 students, the Ramada Plaza
Hotel in Manhattan, Kansas is almost
finished with a complete transformation
inside and out. The hotel had long
enjoyed a steady stream of customers
given its location near campus, but to
ensure that hotel continued to meet the
demands of more discriminating guests,
management decided to renovate and
upgrade the facility.
As part of renovation to the exterior of the 6-story building, the hotel
owner decided to remove rows of architectural wall panels that provided some
separation of guestrooms on the exterior. Each panel measured 8 feet in
height, 4 feet in width and 6 inches
thick. The panels gave the hotel a very
dated look and their removal would give
the hotel a more modern, streamlined
look that would also reflect the look of
the new interior.
In September 2005, general con-
tractor Frank Construction / Ferco
Rental of Salina, Kansas contracted
CSDA member Kansas Concrete Cutting (KCC), also of Salina, to remove
the 140 concrete panels. Because the
hotel was to remain open during the
entire cutting and removal process,
access to the site, the cutting, rigging
and removal was all a bit tedious.
Working from the boom lifts, operators wore full-body harnesses and were
tied off 100 percent of their time during
the demolition. Before the pieces were
REPRINTED FROM CONCRETE OPENINGS, VOL. 15, NO. 1, MARCH 2006
cut, each one was rigged for removal.
The general contractor drilled 2-inchdiameter holes for rigging in preparation
for cutting and removal. KCC operators
then began cutting the panels free using
flush cut hydraulic hand saws with 20inch-diameter blades. Upon completion
of each cut, a crane lowered the piece to
the ground and loaded it into a dump
truck for disposal at a nearby landfill.
Hand sawing allowed for extremely
precise cutting that protected the structural integrity of the building while efficiently slicing through the heavily
reinforced concrete. It also reduced the
amount of noise, dust and debris which
was important to the hotel staff and
especially any guests who remained in
their rooms during the work day. In addition, precision concrete sawing eliminated the possibility of falling debris
which could have created a pedestrian
hazard as well as possible damage to windows and the wall. To ensure pedestrian
safety, KCC created a walking lane with
fencing. OSHA happened to be con-
ducting training at KSU across the street
from the job, so the pressure was on to
operate with perfection in terms of safety
and skill.
In all, KCC operators flush cut 1,120
lineal feet of 6-inch-thick concrete with
a volume of 140 cubic yards over the
course of nine working days. High winds
and snow forced minor delays, but the
project was completed on time and within
budget in November 2005.
This precision removal job would
not have been a success without the
proper planning and equipment. “We
planned, we organized, we gambled and
we won,” said Joe Frank, owner of Frank
Construction / FERCO Rental. He
added, “Kansas Concrete Cutting has
always been a great partner when it
comes to all types of concrete cutting.”
KCC project manager Kenny O’Donnell
was also very satisfied with the project.
“The operators did an awesome job. It
was a tough project but they were on the
job early and sawed as many as 30 panels a day,” he said.
O’Donnell believes KCC was selected
for the project because of their reputation
for completing jobs that involve technical
and logistical challenges. With the outdated architectural panels removed, the
hotel is well on its way to achieving a
clean, contemporary look. Final completion of the exterior renovation is expected
in 2006. ●
COMPANY PROFILE
Kansas Concrete Cutting (KCC) of Salina,
Kansas has been serving northern Kansas,
Colorado and Nebraska for 12 years.They
offer a variety of sawing and drilling services including flat sawing, core drilling,
wall sawing and wire sawing.They operate five trucks and have six operators.
KCC, part of The Coring & Cutting Group,
has been a member of CSDA since 1994.
RESOURCES
General Contractor:
Frank Construction / Ferco Rental
Salina, KS
Sawing & Drilling Contractor:
Kansas Concrete Cutting
Salina, KS
Methods Used: Hand Sawing, Core
Drilling
Tel: 785-825-7222
Fax: 785-825-6760
Web: www.cutconcrete.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Bottom left: Each panel was rigged to a crane before it was cut.
Bottom right: A total of 140 wall panels were removed in nine working days.