A critical piece of work was performed this last weekend out at the T-Mobile HQ campus renovation in Bellevue, WA.
A 34-ton floor section needed to be removed in order to install upcoming skybridges that will help interconnect all the buildings for employees. Starting at 2am on Saturday, September 14, the first of two massive Grove GMK 7550 mobile cranes (the largest available in this market) arrived on site. Rarely ever seen in tandem, the second crane came up from Portland by 4am to begin work separating the 6-ton roof from the floor section. Both crane operators were required to perform initial hoisting in the blind, and therefore followed directions from one “phone-man”. Adding even more complexity to this task was the fact that the cranes were swinging against each other, and at different radiuses from the load. With only 3’ to spare between the two buildings, this was no small feat.
Thanks to extensive pre-planning down to the last detail, the project team including crews from Andersen, Barnhart, NorthStar, and KPFF Consulting Engineers seamlessly orchestrated this potentially catastrophic operation without issue. Dismantling continued throughout the weekend to condense, organize, and remove the majority of the bridge sections. T-Mobile employees returned to work as usual Monday morning, with all sidewalks and roadways cleared for regular use.
This is part of the ongoing main campus renovation, which will transform its HQ campus into a modern, connected and innovative workplace home to over 6,200 employees. The first new skybridge is expected to be installed in November of 2019 with the full renovation complete in 2021.