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NASA Launch Pad Given a Face Lift
Not all concrete
cutting jobs are glamorous or extraordinarily complicated,
but a job can be interesting just the same. Concrete Cutting
& Breaking, Inc. - Del Ray Beach, Florida - was awarded
just such a project. CCB was chosen to do some face-lifting
work at the Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A, in Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
Launch Complex 39, Pad A is one of two launch
pads that were originally designed to support the Apollo program
and were later modified for the space shuttle launch operations.
Major changes included the erection of a new Fixed Service
Structure (FSS), the addition of a Rotation Service Structure
(RSS), and the replacement of the Saturn flame deflectors
with three new flame deflectors.
Launch Pad 39A consists of:
- 68,000 cubic yards of concrete weighing 1.3 million pounds.
- A flame trench 450' long x 58' wide x 42' deep.
- An orbiter flame deflector 72' long x 57' wide x 38' high.
When the space shuttle launches, the flame
is split by the flame deflector. After a number of launches,
the material covering the flame deflector or refractory concrete
called "Fondue Fire" must be removed and replaced.
Because of the height and angle of the structure, access for
machines to break up the material was impossible. In addition,
dust and debris was not acceptable in the removal project.
Concrete Cutting & Breaking contracted to cut and remove
this material from the launch pad.
The concrete is welded on the structure
with metal pins and a grid of steel. CCB made vertical cuts
every 12" using a hydraulic powered hand saw with a 20"
diameter blade. Before the relief cuts were made, the breaking
was extremely slow. After cutting the relief cuts, CCB was
able to remove the 7000 square feet of "Fondue Fire"
within the time constraints specified by NASA.
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| The
flame deflector. |
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| Launch
Pad 39A, Cape Canaveral, Florida. |
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| Flame-damaged
concrete to be cut and removed. |
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| Sections
removed after cutting. |
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