Yankee Stadium [I] Demolition

[YankeeFanBx]

Maybe they'll rebuild the original stadium and tear the new one down.
That would make a lot of folks very happy.

[JoeDOYS]

I also have a strange feeling that there's a surprise in store before it's all over. Not necessarily a good surprise, but a surprise just the same. None of this looks right. I think somethings going on.

Do you know something we dont?

My big question is this: How exactly are they going to bring down all that upper deck without getting people in the surrounding area killed? I cant even imagine the weight of what is up there with that 100 year old concrete...all supported by thick steel cables.

I know the idea of jacking it up from underneath has been tossed around but has something of this scale been attempted before?

[jnakamura]

Do you know something we dont?

My big question is this: How exactly are they going to bring down all that upper deck without getting people in the surrounding area killed? I cant even imagine the weight of what is up there with that 100 year old concrete...all supported by thick steel cables.

I know the idea of jacking it up from underneath has been tossed around but has something of this scale been attempted before?

It's really not as much of a big deal to disassemble it as it seems for a crew that knows what it's doing. It looks like such a massive solid "thing" to bring down, but the upper deck is really mostly empty space when you think about it.

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

It's really not as much of a big deal to disassemble it as it seems for a crew that knows what it's doing. It looks like such a massive solid "thing" to bring down, but the upper deck is really mostly empty space when you think about it.

I think what he's referring to(correct me if I'm wrong) is the complexity with how the upper deck was renovated in the mid-70s.

It was a real balancing act! The rows from K(or L) and above are supported by a spine/frame that weighs = to everything from K down to the front row "NO OBJECTS ON LEDGE" signs. Even the vertical wall behind the top(back) row plus the awning & light arrays above it are figured into the weight of that '70s extension. Just look how thick those spines are compared to everything forward(downward) of them.(blue members = modifications).

The grandstand would remain intact/upright as is in that image. Add a semi-live load(spectators) to that and it will tip forward instantly. The cables(plus the weight of the new upper concourse they connect to) serve the primary role of holding that deck back when loaded with crowds. See bottom slide for aforementioned cables.

Now you all see what a beast disassembling all this will be! (At least compared to Shea, Tiger Stadium, etc). Removing only A - K or only L - U(V? W?) would create a out-of-balance condition that would bring the rest of the granstand down most expeditiously. Crashing either out into surrounding streets or inward toward the playing surface.

In any case the tension cables must remain in place until most of the upper deck(below K-L and above it) are gone. Jackposting - about where the old columns existed - would certainly simplify the process, and allow a top(lights, awning, vertical wall, upper 10 rows)-down disassembly.

Will such common sense pervail? Stay tuned!

[The Monument]

They're still getting all the old Babe Ruth hotdog wrappers out and all the babes that Joe Pepitone boinked under the stands. It's a long, tedious process my friend .

True. Lots of Coney Island Whitefish to clean up, and I don't mean the Babes wrappers.

[SparkyL]

I think what he's referring to(correct me if I'm wrong) is the complexity with how the upper deck was renovated in the mid-70s.

It was a real balancing act! The rows from K(or L) and above are supported by a spine/frame that weighs = to everything from K down to the front row "NO OBJECTS ON LEDGE" signs. Even the vertical wall behind the top(back) row plus the awning & light arrays above it are figured into the weight of that '70s extension. Just look how thick those spines are compared to everything forward(downward) of them.(blue members = modifications).

The grandstand would remain intact/upright as is in that image. Add a semi-live load(spectators) to that and it will tip forward instantly. The cables(plus the weight of the new upper concourse they connect to) serve the primary role of holding that deck back when loaded with crowds. See bottom slide for aforementioned cables.

Now you all see what a beast disassembling all this will be! (At least compared to Shea, Tiger Stadium, etc). Removing only A - K or only L - U(V? W?) would create a out-of-balance condition that would bring the rest of the granstand down most expeditiously. Crashing either out into surrounding streets or inward toward the playing surface.

In any case the tension cables must remain in place until most of the upper deck(below K-L and above it) are gone. Jackposting - about where the old columns existed - would certainly simplify the process, and allow a top(lights, awning, vertical wall, upper 10 rows)-down disassembly.

Will such common sense pervail? Stay tuned!

That is a great write up and ever better pics!!

[JohnCropp]

I think what he's referring to(correct me if I'm wrong) is the complexity with how the upper deck was renovated in the mid-70s.

It was a real balancing act! The rows from K(or L) and above are supported by a spine/frame that weighs = to everything from K down to the front row "NO OBJECTS ON LEDGE" signs. Even the vertical wall behind the top(back) row plus the awning & light arrays above it are figured into the weight of that '70s extension. Just look how thick those spines are compared to everything forward(downward) of them.(blue members = modifications).

The grandstand would remain intact/upright as is in that image. Add a semi-live load(spectators) to that and it will tip forward instantly. The cables(plus the weight of the new upper concourse they connect to) serve the primary role of holding that deck back when loaded with crowds. See bottom slide for aforementioned cables.

Now you all see what a beast disassembling all this will be! (At least compared to Shea, Tiger Stadium, etc). Removing only A - K or only L - U(V? W?) would create a out-of-balance condition that would bring the rest of the granstand down most expeditiously. Crashing either out into surrounding streets or inward toward the playing surface.

In any case the tension cables must remain in place until most of the upper deck(below K-L and above it) are gone. Jackposting - about where the old columns existed - would certainly simplify the process, and allow a top(lights, awning, vertical wall, upper 10 rows)-down disassembly.

Will such common sense pervail? Stay tuned!

Those images are probably the best pre-to-post-renovation comparisons that I've seen!

Thank you!

[Maxlugar]

Those images are probably the best pre-to-post-renovation comparisons that I've seen!

Thank you!

I agree! Wow great job!

[voodoochile]

I have absolutely no idea what, if anything, it attached to the ends of those cables, but I read an article shortly after the renovation that they were encased in cement and buried deep in the ground.
I'm wondering if they have a means of relieving the tension of the cables by way of a turnbuckle of some sort, allowing them to slowly lower the upper deck to the ground, or at least partially. If not, then maybe release the tension abruptly and allow a controlled collapse inside the walls.
Why hasn't anything been made public in regards to how they will perform the task of rendering a very huge concrete structure into a pile of rubble without explosives? What are they going to do, chip away at the concrete walls until the steel structure is exposed, then shear off the rivets and unbolt the nuts and haul it away piece by piece? You would think that they'd be bragging about what they're about to do, but instead it is all very secretive.
Every structure that has been demolished, whether it be a stadium, a hotel, a bank or any hi-rise, they publicize it. Why not this? There's something funny going on.

[ChineseDemocracy]

^I think you are exactly right about the way my favorite stadium is going to be demolished.

Since it is so much more different than the Shea Stadium demolition, I wonder if extreme winter conditions will slow things down.

[Maxlugar]

^I think you are exactly right about the way my favorite stadium is going to be demolished.

Since it is so much more different than the Shea Stadium demolition, I wonder if extreme winter conditions will slow things down.

I think the whole construction company goes down into the locker room every day and scratch their heads. After a while they give up and play cards.

[Mike Wagner]

Dear voodoochile,
Yes, they do have turnbuckles. It may very well play a pivotal part in the demolition process.

-Mike Wagner

[JoeDOYS]

Here is an entry from the guestbook on my site....

I was a Local 40 Ironworker in the days of the renovation, and I spent 19 months working for Karl Koch as a connector. It seems to me that the demo will have to be done with extreme care or else a catastrophe will occur. The upper deck sports a 77' cantilever and you just can't lift that mass out without supporting the outside or the other way around. They should be extremely careful and think the process through.

[The Monument]

I also read that the cables were run down to the Stadium's basement. As far as the demo, I'm guessing that the lower part of the UD, the Tier Boxes, will go first to relieve tension. But I'm no engineer.

[Aviator_Frank]

You take down a cantilevered structure the same way you put it up, but in reverse. Load balancing.

Think of piles of bricks on both sides of a see-saw: Remove the load equally from both sides of the fulcrum.