The Central Heating Plant in Washington DC has been in service since the 1930’s. Grimberg partnered with GSA to replace the facility’s economizer #4 and associated multi-story breeching (well over 100,000 pounds of equipment) with a state-of-the-art and energy efficient system. Therein, preliminary work included the demolition of the existing economizer and five stories of associated breeching – a significant logistical effort that also required extensive project coordination efforts as well as comprehensive facility protection and occupant/public safety plans.

All work was performed in a confined space environment with limited interior access; once demolition and removal of the multi-story equipment was complete, the new economizer and associated breeching had to be installed through a ten foot wide window on the fourth floor of the building – a significant obstacle. As the new economizer was nine-by-eight feet wide and weighed approximately 100,000 pounds, a sophisticated rigging system (including two cranes) was developed, one designed to ensure that the economizer could be safely lifted to the fourth story as well as inserted into the facility without damaging the building’s façade. The resulting operation proved to be one of the heaviest confined space equipment lifts made in the national capital region.

As such, the project was a landmark rigging effort and, therein, the placement of the cranes themselves also required detailed planning. Walls of an existing coal yard surrounded the location directly beneath the third floor window; and the only way a crane could be placed close enough to the building (and beneath the new economizer’s interior access point) was to use a 350 ton unit to literally place the individual pieces of a 500 ton unit within the coal yard area. The huge crane was hoisted over the coal yard wall in sections and then erected within the confined space. Once the cranes were in position, the new economizer was successfully and safety set into position through the access point at the fourth floor. Thereafter, the new breeching was connected and new boiler feed water piping, control work, instrumentation, and associated insulation was also installed.

During the project, Grimberg discovered that the dimensions of the existing interior breeching spaces differed from the given design specifications. Since the breeching for this area was under development, an efficient resolution was needed to resolve the problem. Grimberg partnered with the design engineers and developed the most cost-effective solution. Revised breeching drawings were expedited, which allowed the breeching to be modified in the fabrication plant, and Grimberg adjusted its overall project schedule, including subcontractor and delivery schedules, and fast-tracked large portions of the project to ensure that all systems were operational in time for the upcoming heating season – a critical achievement and a substantial added value for the GSA.

Throughout, Grimberg made daily inspections of the work, made constant site visits to the breeching development plant to guarantee the equipment’s precise specifications, and coordinated closely with GSA representatives to ensure that the government was delivered a result that both met as well as exceeded all expectations.

All work during this complicated project was performed within budget, on schedule, and with no lost time accidents. Grimberg provided substantial cost-savings throughout and efficiently incorporated all change orders into the overall project schedule, providing for significant time-savings as well. As a result of the company’s performance, Grimberg received excellent overall ratings as well as a 2007 Association of General Contractors Merit Award.

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