Omega Morgan’s Crane Services Crew Safely Removes Two 50-Foot Totem Poles in Seattle

Omega Morgan’s Seattle crane services crew was brought on to remove two 50-foot totem poles anchored into the ground above an underground parking garage that needed repair. Before the garage repair could happen, the poles needed to be removed. That’s where our crane services crew came in to help. The task was to remove the two poles and land them onto a truck so they could be transported off site. The challenge: the totem poles were 40 years old and had become soft and rotten, putting them at risk of splitting during removal.

PRECISION AND SAFETY IN CRANE SERVICES 

After our crew arrived on site, the first step was to find an ideal location for our Tadano all-terrain, 120-capacity crane. Next we sent one of our crew members up in a man basket to the top of the largest totem pole where he attached rigging. He secured two-inch straps down the pole in 5-foot segments to compress the wood and keep it from splitting. 

Once the crew member was back on the ground, our crews attached the rigging to the Tadano’s crane hook for stabilization and began removing the pole’s anchoring system. To our surprise, the pole was not just bolted, but the bolts were epoxied and the pole was bonded with grout to the support system. It took a lot of careful and minimal percussive force, but our crews were able to lift the first pole and then land it safely onto our truck for off-site transport. The wood of the second pole was even softer with more rot, but we were able to safely remove this one as well—in even less time.

A CRANE COMPANY THAT MOVES PROJECTS FORWARD

Thanks to the careful and safe work of our Seattle crane services crew, we were able to safely remove the poles and make way for necessary construction by the city of Seattle.