Need Advice on dismantling collapsed 300 ft steel truss structure

Heya everyone!

I have a big mess on my hands. A couple weeks ago under heavy snow, one of my two former commercial chicken houses collapsed. I quit raised chickens in '09 so I was using this building for storage. At the time I had lots of totes of personal effects, a new lawnmower, 30+ round bales of hay for my livestock, and my pickup truck in there. I have since gotten my truck out undamaged (it was just inside the back door, the end wall didn't fall in)

Also, each building had a 20ft 'workroom' which we repurposed into a shop building. It is still standing. The roof sheared off right at the wall dividing it from the back portion. I wish to keep this portion of the building.

I need to do some thing with this mess and get my things out. I I contacted a guy that professionally demos buildings like this for scrap, but it may be April before he can get to it. I obviously need some of my things before then, such as my hay! And I also need to do something to weatherproof the still standing workroom.

So that is the situation. Now what I'd like is advice. I don't really own any tools to demo this. But I'm not opposed to getting some. (the cost of the scrap would more than pay for it) What would you recommend for cutting up those trusses? Has anyone else here tackled something like this and care to share their experience?


^Welds popped on the wall portion to allow the trusses to buckle.


^Where my truck was pinned. Jacked to roof off it and braced with the 4x4s so I could drive it out.


^300ft x 40ft trusses on 10ft centers.




^Portion of the building not fallen in. the 'shop' I wish to save.



I will mention that I did get ambitious today and removed the first 3 sheets of roofing on one side, removing nails with a hammer and small crowbar. My knuckles are feeling it...any helpful thoughts on this mess would be greatly appreciated!

You need a skidsteer. I could have that cleaned up in 2 days.

Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

You need a skidsteer. I could have that cleaned up in 2 days.

I have two tractors, exactly how will that clean it up? I don't need it in a pile, I need my undamaged things out of it and I need it gone...preferably for a profit as I didn't get anything for it from the insurance...O.o

I would start with a set of forks to rip the roof off. Then I would switch to my grapple bucket to start piling the wood/ separating the metal trusses from the wood. In the process of doing that you should be able to get your stuff out unharmed.

Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

I would start with a set of forks to rip the roof off. Then I would switch to my grapple bucket to start piling the wood/ separating the metal trusses from the wood. In the process of doing that you should be able to get your stuff out unharmed.

I understand. I should mention that there is a foundation almost a foot high and 2 foot in the ground running the length of the building that the trusses sit on. Would you be able to drive over this? If not then you can only get at it from the one end.

Regardless, I'm afraid a skid-steer would be out of my budget dispute how nice it would be to have one....lol

Thanks for the replies.

A couple of calls, none of the rentals reasonably near me have grapple buckets for there bobcats. So that's out, plus that don't answer how to deal with the trusses.

I should mention again that I also need to repair the remaining portion of the building. I'd like to do that with materials salvaged from the rest of the building. This means I need to dismantle at least a part of the building without destroying it. I'd love to hear more ideas.

Thanks!

is any of the roofing salvageable? would it be hard to remove? That would certainly give you a better view at the rest.
I think you'd do well with a Lull, you'd have around 30 ft of boom with it

Syt,

Was the original building an engineered design? Or was it a used building relocated to your site? The design of the trusses, with the taper to the center of the building, suggests to me that the building columns at each side shouldn't have been pipes, but a vertical truss....?

Do you know what the ground snow load is for your area? It can't be much!

Just thinking, if the building was designed and built for your area, someone blew the design. You might have a comeback, even if it was built years ago.

Jon.


Jon.

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

For a quick removal without saving anything you would be better off with a 200-size excavator (40K lb machine) with a thumb and load the stuff directly into demolition bins. A shear would be handy but the stuff is light enough that a torch would take care of anything that proved stubborn to break down with the hoe.

To take stuff down and salvage it is a bit more of a ticklish situation. Obviously, safety is of prime concern with a half-collapsed building so you need to consider what you want to save and figure out how to get at it. Maybe a manlift would help you get to where you need to be. Maybe pull the walls out of a section of building so the roof is close to the ground? Brace up whatever you want to salvage with wood so you can get up on it? Don't forget that whatever you are taking apart will get weaker and more willing to fall down as parts are removed!! Gravity is your enemy here so getting everything close to the ground is kind of a given.

Take a look at the posts by Patriot76 about taking down a water tank for a town. (do a search) There's lots of photos-you might find some pointers there.

I had an opportunity to salvage a 60 x 300 wood trussed, open sided shed from a sawmill site but could not do it in any economical and safe manner except for total demolition. I dearly wanted to move it to my farm for a "hayshed on steroids".

Stay safe, good luck, and post photos of what you end up doing!!!

Jon.

Yes Obviously I wish to do this safely. The angles of the pictures may be deceiving, but the roof is in fact on the ground. Its like the pitch inverted. This buildings side walls are only 7ft hihg. Its not going anywhere I don't think. I feel I'm safe to walk on top of it, but I'd be very leery of getting under it.

Originally Posted by Bear

is any of the roofing salvageable? would it be hard to remove? That would certainly give you a better view at the rest.
I think you'd do well with a Lull, you'd have around 30 ft of boom with it

Well the trusses are shot obviously, but yes, the roof metal, lumber, and a good deal of the blue board isolation can be saved. This building also had a concrete pad down the middle of it. I'm really tempted that if I do take this all down myself, I'd like to save as much as I could to maybe rebuild a structure out of the materials.

Originally Posted by Patriot76

Good Evening,

I am going to make some recommendations that I hope others can add to. It is hard to tell the exact condition of the remaining supports based on the pictures. This strategy was used on an old barn recently and worked. Hopefully it will work for you.

If your tractors have a loader on them you will not need a skid steer. Two tractors with loaders will make it even easier. It is assumed you have at least one loader since you have round bales. Start at the opening with 4x4's that span the width between rafters. Use 4x4's or basement floor jacks. Lift the second span higher than the first span with the tractor and set upright supports under 4x4's running between first set of rafters. As long as the tractor is under the previous support point you should not need to worry about a cave in. Continue to move back into the building as you brace each rafter. I am assuming you will need to support each side to have a runway through the middle. If all of your stuff is on one side of the building, you can get by with one support per rafter.

Another option is to put the 4x4 support beam on the bucket before entering the building. Use the bucket to lift the 4x4 between the rafters and set the upright supports.

To be really economical, remove the front of the shed and use the metal to create your substructure. You will either have to weld it or drill holes and bolt them together. I would use a cutting torch with propane and oxygen. You can cut the side walls and roof instead of pulling nails. The metal on the rafters will not affect the substructure.

Hopefully this helps. Please keep us posted, pictures would be a bonus. If this does not make since, please pm me and I will give you a phone number for more information. Good luck and hopefully others will add other ideas.

P.S. I am not an expert and am only offering ideas. When working on the water tanks, the experts would not offer information for fear of liability. This is only an idea, not a solution. Good luck.

Good ideas there. That is basically how I got my truck out. Unfortunately my luck my stuff is in at the far end of the main door! I'd likely need 50 4x4s to reach it. lol
I don't have a cutting torch, but been wanting to get one anyway. My only fear is fire. I've read in other threads some folks using a plasma cutter? I know they operate a lot cooler, but could one work on that rusty metal? (I'd really like to own a plasma cutter too.. :P)

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Syt,

Was the original building an engineered design? Or was it a used building relocated to your site? The design of the trusses, with the taper to the center of the building, suggests to me that the building columns at each side shouldn't have been pipes, but a vertical truss....?

Do you know what the ground snow load is for your area? It can't be much!

Just thinking, if the building was designed and built for your area, someone blew the design. You might have a comeback, even if it was built years ago.

Jon.


Jon.

My pictures are not the greatest, but the trusses are made entirely from welded angle iron.
The snow we had was almost 12 inches, the most we have had in one fall in our area in I don't remember when. But to top it off, the wind piled a drift over 2 ft tall along the center pitch of the peak of the roof the full length of it. I was around and actually heard the building fall. It started with this popping and snapping, like tree limbs breaking, be for it let go. I think that sound was the welds breaking on the cross beams of the vertical sections. Once they came undone, that allowed the truss to bend.

The building was built on site, it has never been relocated. The design was dictated by Tyson, the producer we raised birds for. My father was actually the construction contractor that built it. He built dozens of these poultry buildings around the region at that time.

If I could go after anyone, it be the weather forecasters! We were forecast lite ice and 3-4 in snow max. How they messed that up and it became almost 12in is ridiculous.

Thanks for the input everyone! I'll keep you updated!

A plasma cutter would cut the metal without a problem. The source of electricity would be the challenge. After you are done with the building you could hook the plasma cutter up to a computer, add software, and start your own metal art business. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Patriot76

A plasma cutter would cut the metal without a problem. The source of electricity would be the challenge. After you are done with the building you could hook the plasma cutter up to a computer, add software, and start your own metal art business. Good luck.

I have a 3 point PTO driven generator for my tractor. Now to convince my wife that I need one immediately..lol

Originally Posted by Syt

I have a 3 point PTO driven generator for my tractor. Now to convince my wife that I need one immediately..lol

isn't a tractor, and everything required to keep one running, sort of overkill for a generator?