Sea World Saved with Life Support System Rehabilitation

The Williams Company, a general contractor from Orlando, Florida, was awarded the contract to completely remove and replace all concrete structures associated with Sea World's Life Support systems. This structure was constructed as an integral and original portion of the park's salt water exhibit filtration system. Over time, salt water intrusion through the tank walls and tank slab oxidized the reinforcing steel, weakening and deteriorating the perimeter walls and tank slab. Certain portions of the tank walls were bowed up to 12" from centerline and were braced by flying buttresses.

Water loss in the range of thousands of gallons from this deterioration prompted Sea World to replace the leaking tank. All water for the animal attractions (including Shamu, dolphins, sea lions, tropical fish and outdoor animal exhibits) is filtered and oxygenated by way of the Life Support System facilities. This is an un-interruptible and critical process; without it the park could not function. Any system failure, pipe breakage, or tank-wall failure could spell disaster.

These parameters along with extremely confined work areas created a unique situation for Concrete Cutting & Breaking Inc. - Orlando, Florida. Because the structure was deteriorated and the support system had to remain operational during the selective demolition, the use of diamond cutting was ideal. The fragile support systems had to be worked around delicately. The fact that diamond sawing generates little vibration and little dust made CCB a necessary part of the controlled demolition.

CCB and The Williams Company engineered a selective demolition schedule to quickly complete this massive structure removal as safe and controlled as possible. Contamination of processed water adjacent to the work area by dust or debris was unacceptable. After two of the four tanks were drained and cleaned, CCB began by wall sawing a man door through the 16" double mat #8 reinforced tank wall to allow easy access to the tanks' interior. Scaffolding was erected and four 6" sling holes per section were drilled for crane removal.

To expedite removal, entire perimeter sections of the wall, up to 100' in length, were braced and wall sawed. Approximately 17' by 16' by 16' pieces were lifted to a staging area to be slab sawed into 8' by 6' by 16" pieces and removed to an off-site location. Three wall saws with Diamond Products split-segment blades were used to maintain a production rate compatible with the General Contractor's completion schedule. After all the wall sections were removed, slab sawing of the tank bottom commenced. Two Core Cut 65hp slab saws and one CCB parapet slab saw were used to section the tank bottom into 7' by 5' by 22" pieces.

Original blueprints indicated a double mat of #8 rebar at 16" center but the actual field varied greatly from these specifications. Actual steel placement was top mat of #10 rebar at 6" centers going in both directions and a bottom mat of #8 at 16" centers going both directions. After the discovery of a substantial amount of rebar in bottom of the tank slab, CCB mobilized a Vermeer trencher and a pair of CCB parapet slab saws with 60" diameter blades to tackle the overly-thick areas. With the unprecedented amount of rebar, the epoxy bottom coating, and leaking walls in adjacent tanks, this task was by no means routine.

Due to the deterioration of the tank walls, it was determined that sawing was not an option. Therefore Bristar, a chemical expansion material, was used. The first basin was drilled, filled with Bristar, and set up overnight. The chemical successfully fractured the unreinforced structures sufficiently for removal.

Throughout the project, CCB perfomed:

• 230 6" by 16" sling holes
  
• 1950' of 16" tank wall sawing
  
• 500' of 8" tank wall sawing
  
• 2900' of 24" tank slab sawing
  
• 1500' of 16" wall sections
  
• 600' of 8" wall sections
  

CCB and The Williams Company performed this challenging twelve-month demolition project professionally and within the parameters unique to the jobsite.

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		Related Services - Wall Sawing - Core Drilling Office Orlando, FL

Concrete Cutting and Breaking's challenge was to remove Sea World's original water filtration tanks without disturbing the park's delicate ecosystem.

Wall sawing tank sections for removal by crane.

A CCB Parapet Saw with 60" blade was used to achieve cut depths of 27".

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