When general contractor Reconstruction Experts Inc. (RE) needed an access solution for inspection and repair work on the Penterra Plaza in Denver, Colo. they turned to Spider to provide a complete suspended access solution.
The Penterra Plaza project is a 280-ft. tall, multi-terraced high-end, commercial and residential building that required inspection of every weep hole and brick tuck pointing location of the exterior façade; as well as leak and pressure tests on every window fitting with corresponding and corrective glazing work on failed windows.
Jacob Bergstresser, district sales representative for Spider Denver, one of 23 branches across North America, believes that when Spider is selected for a job by a general contractor, typically the general contractor is looking for a complete turnkey solution.
“We’re one of the few companies in the country that is capable of engineering and designing fully integrated suspended access products, delivering extremely large amounts of equipment, providing safe and productive access solutions and additionally providing certified riggers for necessary work,” states Bergstresser. “We’re not just providing the swing stages, but a full safety package—including the labor necessary to set up and move the stages around the jobsite.”
Winning Edge
A full safety package in the case of the Penterra Plaza included 750 linear feet of Spider’s new temporary guardrail system, SpiderRail, installed to ensure OSHA-compliant fall protection along the edges of the building.
“The SpiderRail system was a big factor in them winning the contract, and the jobsite being OSHA-compliant. On a daily basis inspectors checking the swing stages prior to work beginning had to access the floors via tenant units,” explains Bergstresser. “The problem was that every time they left the tenant unit there was space created and they weren’t tied-off and thus weren’t compliant. After the SpiderRail System was installed that safety hazard was mitigated and everyone could move around the jobsite freely and safely—and for that particular job, without ever having to put on a harness and lanyard or any type of personal fall arrest system.”
Ten modular platforms ranging in length from 20-35 ft., powered by Spider’s Zmac hoists, 20 davits, and custom-engineered davit adapters provided access for the contractors to complete their inspection and repair work to the windows and façade.
Bergstresser says that while typically a building has two davits that move around permanently installed sockets for one swing stage, Penterra needed 20 for the 10 stages that were being utilized. “We brought davits in from all over the country and manufactured an adaptor to work with our davit system in the building socket,” says Bergstresser.
Big Scale Efficiency
Finally and considering the occupied space they were working in, Spider and RE decided that the safest, most efficient way to move material around the jobsite was by a crane. The tool of choice was a 300-ton hydraulic crane.
Bergstresser says while the suggestion may not have been something RE was expecting—Spider was more than up to the challenge. “Having a crane on a jobsite is a big deal that carries its own risk; however, every worker at the Denver Spider branch has gone through suspended scaffolding Competent Person Training and we’ve dealt many times with tower cranes on new construction,” he explains. “It was the best solution for the project. We certainly didn’t want to bring in thousands of pounds of equipment in all shapes and configurations through occupants’ living rooms.”
Training for All
Spider was involved in all of the safety planning for the Pentarra project and provided Competent Person Training for all of the mason workers, glaziers, and general contractors utilizing the equipment.
“Spider has a dedicated national training manager that heads up all of our training,” says Bergstresser. “As one of two Spider trainers in Denver, we stress to our customer that there is always something new to learn and encourage more hands on site training.”
Jake Marshall, project manager with RE said: “As a first time customer of Spider, I have nothing but positive things to say about the equipment and service they are providing for the Penterra Plaza project. Whenever we are faced with challenges, Spider’s Denver team personally takes action and delivers a safe and timely solution. We are especially impressed with their plan to utilize a crane service to load the equipment onto the structure, since transporting it through the building would have been disruptive to the building’s occupants. Not only did this improve our efficiency, it reassured the building owners that their concerns were our top priority.”
Spider’s work on the Penterra Plaza is scheduled to be completed in December.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
