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consistent wire grip. These improvements reduced slippage and subsequent wire breaks. Since then the patented underwater saw has been used domestically and globally on offshore decommissioning jobs including cutting single- and multi-string conductors, pipelines, seabed umbilicals, pilings, mooring chains, wellheads, risers, slot recovery and jacket lets. On platforms this technology can be applied to perform modifications, maintenance upgrades, to remove crane pedestals, compressors and topsides, and for hurricane remediation. Sub-sea saws can be installed by divers while being monitored and powered from a barge or platform, or they can be installed and powered by working class ROVs. The robust characteristics of these four wheel drive bespoke underwater wire saws, combined with remote control functionality, makes them suitable to extreme offshore decommissioning conditions such as the North Sea.
360:. With regard to dam remediation and upgrades, slot cutting projects are the company's main focus. It is akin to slicing a concrete dam like a piece of birthday cake. The technique is simple but very difficult, rotate a loop of cable strung with diamond embedded beads through the structure — essentially, like using a loop of fishing line to cut a cake. Slot cutting is employed to create expansion joints in dams afflicted with compression stresses due to concrete swelling. Alkali Aggregate Reaction, or AAR, is a chemical reaction in concrete created where the aggregate has a high silicon dioxide content. The southeast USA is one such region, and dams in that area require periodic slot cuts to avoid cracking, leakage, and interference with mechanical components such as gates and turbines. The time intervals depend on the AAR specifics of each structure, but 10 years is an average.
210:. It was founded in 1979 by CEO and owner Nicholas Jenkins. The business comprises the sub-companies: Demolition Technologies, The Machine Shop, Bluegrass Concrete Cutting Inc., and Bluegrassbit. Bluegrass Company has always been headquartered in Greenville, Alabama, though now incorporated in Wyoming. The company is known for the advancement of diamond wire sawing as a technique for non-explosive demolition, later for the creation and patenting of an underwater diamond wire saw, and for assisting the U.S. Department of Energy with various tests as well as nuclear decommissioning.
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towers which supply water to the turbines in the hydroelectric plant. Bluegrass diamond wire saws were ideally suited to the job because of the minimal vibration emitted, therefore avoided the potential hazard of vibrating debris into the draft tubes. Expansive grout and robotic hammers were also used to break the concrete blocks for removal.
328:
E7, E8, and E10 through E16, then core drilled for rigging and removal all the cut blocks except those on E6. The pier demolition project was authorized by the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission in part to mitigate for all the fill associated with construction of the new East Span of the
420:
In 2006, Bluegrass created an underwater saw and had it patented for its use of hydraulic motors in combination with diamond wire to create a new sawing platform which was operational underwater. The continuous loop, four wheel drive diamond wire saw reduced cut times by providing greater torque and
267:
In 1997, Bluegrass with the help of the
Princeton Physics Laboratory offered a demonstration of how the TFTR could be disassembled with diamond wire sawing, "Based upon the demonstration at PPPL on the TFTR surrogate, the diamond wire cutting technology is superior to the baseline technology for both
327:
in
California and Wisner Boulevard bridge in New Orleans, LA. At the Port of Los Angeles, CA, an underwater wire saw cut Berth 29 for removal. On the demolition of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in Spring 2017, Bluegrass cut and segmented the above-water blocks of Piers E6,
250:
The company has worked for the government of the United States of
America: Department of energy on their Plutonium Immobilization Project, "After the low pour rate and instrumented canisters cooled, Bluegrass Bit, Inc. used a diamond wire saw to section them at four heights. The sections were then
508:
in kilns needs to be replaced periodically. A variety of maintenance, upgrade, retrofit, and replacement projects in this industry calls into service the full array of demolition equipment: core drills and diamond wire saws for cutting concrete bases, walls and foundations, and for releasing and
367:
project in South
Carolina, a requirement by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which involved seismic upgrades to the dam and building a backup dam immediately downstream. Bluegrass was contracted to assist with removal of concrete piers and retaining wall to provide access to the penstock
466:
Bluegrass was involved in the arduous post-Katrina and -Rita cleanup of toppled or damaged offshore production platforms. Operating from work vessels chartered by
Chevron, the cleanup team moved from platform to platform in the Gulf of Mexico, cutting structural platform members, stringers and
309:
Retired NS (Nuclear Ship) Savannah, anchored at
Baltimore, MD, underwent a renovation in 2018 which required cutting into the nuclear containment vessel to gain access to the reactor. Bluegrass engineered and fabricated bespoke equipment for the confined space to cut, lift and move the 2 ton
525:
Los
Alamost National Laboratories (LANL) Technical Area 54 contracted Bluegrass for assistance with a stockpile cleanup project. The inventory of 84" diameter exotic steel spheres needed to be segmented into sizes suitable for containment and disposal. Bluegrass designed a saw to these
300:
ft wide. The heart of the ITER tokamak, a solenoid is used to magnetically confine a plasma of reactive charged particles into a hollow doughnut-shaped container. The ring of stainless steel and copper was segmented into 4 pieces sized for shipment to another facility for analysis.
268:
cost and safety considerations. The combination of void filling with this cutting technology will significantly reduce personnel radiation exposure through shielding, remote operation (normal application of this technology), and radionuclide stabilization".
412:(SLS) core stage assembly towers. The task of removing the existing concrete silos was estimated to take three months. Bluegrass was called in to regain schedule for the overall project, eventually completing the demolition of cells B and C in a month.
526:
specifications: it had to make a continuous cut, without stopping, through steel nearly 3" thick, and to avoid creating contaminated slurry it could not be cooled with water, typically wire saws are cooled by water, thus the wire burned out quicker.
495:
lining wears out and needs to be replaced, or is compromised by lime buildup which must be removed. For these demolition jobs, remotely operated robotic hammers are used to break up the refractory for removal, and for chipping off lime deposits.
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Another advantage is that the diamond wire saw assembly can be used for removal of damaged offshore oil platforms as well as for decommissioning of oil platforms that have reached their useful life and are being
310:
containment wall cut blocks. The removal of the cut segments had to all be done in a very confined space mostly by manual labor and an elaborate pulley system designed specifically for this job alone.
517:
The structures, mechanisms and environments of chemical plants and refineries are ideal candidates for the spark-free and vibration-free concrete and metal cutting technologies used by
Bluegrass.
290:
scale mockup of the ITER solenoid constructed by wrapping 288 individual stainless steel bars with copper conductor and coiling the resulting "superconductor" into a ring 3 ft tall x 2
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Railway bridge projects include a Union
Pacific Railroad over the Willamette River in Oregon, and a BNSF pivot bridge over Bayou des Allemandes. Highway bridge projects include the
1005:
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An advantage of the present invention is a diamond wire saw assembly that provides the ability to cut large diameter heavy walled multi-string pipes remotely, safely and quickly.
251:
studied for evidence of hardware deformation and glass voids." This project focused on the finding a way to disposition excess plutonium of a weapons grade classification.
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removal primarily using robotic hammers, and boiler segmentation. In many industrial plants such as cememt, lime, copper, aluminum, and chemical, the kiln's
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cutting tanks and chests. Robotic hammers are able to work in the limited space of kilns to effectively break refractory and lime buildup for removal.
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The production of wood pulp and paper products requires extensive concrete structures including foundations, walls, raised platforms and kilns.
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Another advantage is a diamond wire saw assembly that eliminates labor-intensive methods requiring the use of divers at extreme depths.
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If the information is appropriate for the lead of the article, this information should also be included in the body of the article.
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Proceedings of the 2007 ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization - DD and R 2007
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Examples of application to heavy industry include foundation removals and modifications, chest removals in the
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Another advantage is that the diamond wire saw assembly can be deployed by remotely operated vehicles.
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1006:"Columbia to Endeavor: Bluegrass closes one door of space exploration for NASA to open another"
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federal requirements to remove O & G (Oil and Gas) production debris from the seafloor.
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924:"Hiwassee Dam Slot Cut Project Completed Successfully By Bluegrass Concrete Cutting Inc"
850:"Wisner Boulevard section near City Park to close for $ 19.5 million bridge replacement"
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The company helped to test using diamond shaving to decontaminate radioactive surfaces.
949:"Fontana Dam Slot Cut Project Completed Successfully By Bluegrass Concrete Cutting Inc"
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Mullen, Lisa K. (15 January 2008). "Diamond Shaving Contaminated Concrete Surfaces".
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Bluegrass has performed reactor vessel cutting and steam generator replacements at
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Diamond wire sawing, Concrete shaving, Robotic hammering, Expansive-grout supplier
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235:, Waterford Nuclear Generating Station, Connecticut Yankee, Humboldt Bay, and
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Another advantage is a diamond wire saw that eliminates wire breakage.
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The patent was filed with the advantages being summarized as follows:
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needed to demolish the existing concrete silos (built to assemble the
868:"demolition of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge"
634:"Plutonium Immobilization Project Cold Pour Phase 2 Test Results (U)"
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have been a focus of the company as well, also see their work with
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Another advantage is a diamond wire saw assembly that is portable.
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contains information that is not included elsewhere in the article
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408:. This was necessary in order to replace the silos with larger
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Cell B&C are demolished to make room for new SLS tooling.
893:"San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission"
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is a non-explosive demolition company headquartered in
670:. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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Department of Energy - Los Alamos National Laboratory
767:"Demonstrating Diamond Wire Cutting Of The TFTR -2"
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Transportation: highways, railroads, ports, bridges
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745:"Demonstrating Diamond Wire Cutting Of The TFTR".
255:Diamond shaving of contaminated concrete surfaces
549:. Alabama Department of Revenues. Archived from
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467:caissons underwater and on deck to comply with
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1062:"Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning"
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57:Learn how and when to remove this message
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544:"Bluegrass Revenues and Legal Records"
242:over the course of the last 30 years.
1072:from the original on 22 December 2015
804:from the original on 26 December 2018
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677:from the original on 4 December 2015
639:. United States Department Energy.
344:Bluegrass Slot Cut at Hiwassee Dam
263:Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR)
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388:programme for the journey beyond
1042:from the original on 8 July 2018
1036:"NASA CONCRETE SILO DISMANTLING"
1016:from the original on 8 July 2018
1004:Jenkins, Will (10 August 2015).
703:from the original on 1 July 2015
246:Plutonium Immobilization Project
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986:from the original on 2015-09-24
961:from the original on 2020-12-23
930:from the original on 2015-09-24
830:from the original on 2019-03-27
646:from the original on 2017-02-01
607:. Fresh Patents. Archived from
1103:1979 establishments in Alabama
665:"Federal Contractors E-Verify"
513:Chemical plants and refineries
363:Bluegrass participated in the
1:
276:In 2018, Bluegrass supported
219:Power plant decommissioning
102:; 45 years ago
16:American demolition company
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1098:Companies based in Alabama
605:"U.S. Patent #20130000451"
578:. StateLog. Archived from
404:booster rockets) at their
358:Tennessee Valley Authority
824:"NS savannah information"
406:Michoud Assembly Facility
1012:. A Medium Corporation.
433:Bluegrass Underwater Saw
392:to destinations such as
384:As part of planning the
88:Non-Explosive Demolition
1038:. BLUEGRASS COMPANIES.
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425:U.S. Patent #8,286,625
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365:Saluda Dam Remediation
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699:. Nuclearmarket.com.
462:Hurricane remediation
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697:"Nuclear Experience"
611:on 20 September 2018
489:brick and refractory
240:Nuclear power plants
1108:Greenville, Alabama
410:Space Launch System
208:Greenville, Alabama
204:Bluegrass Companies
183:Number of employees
145:(Registered office)
139:(Registered office)
133:(Registered office)
127:(Registered office)
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70:Bluegrass Companies
798:"ITER information"
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348:Projects such as
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75:Company type
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35:lead section
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1076:16 February
521:Heavy metal
500:Paper mills
354:Fontana Dam
305:NS Savannah
152:Area served
136:Hanford, WA
130:Houston, TX
91:Engineering
1092:Categories
990:2015-09-01
965:2022-09-26
934:2015-09-01
909:2017-05-29
878:2022-09-26
834:2022-09-26
783:2017-09-14
650:2015-09-01
530:References
506:Refractory
493:refractory
487:industry,
479:Industrial
330:Bay Bridge
162:Key people
142:Dubois, WY
747:CiteSeerX
229:Watts Bar
156:Worldwide
1070:Archived
1040:Archived
1014:Archived
984:Archived
959:Archived
928:Archived
854:NOLA.com
828:Archived
802:Archived
732:21144239
701:Archived
672:Archived
641:Archived
451:removed.
416:Offshore
225:Sequoyah
174:Services
85:Industry
954:YouTube
707:30 June
681:30 June
615:30 June
586:30 June
560:30 June
295:⁄
285:⁄
214:Nuclear
192:Website
105: (
97:Founded
79:Private
1046:8 July
1020:8 July
1010:Medium
808:25 Dec
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730:
903:(PDF)
896:(PDF)
777:(PDF)
770:(PDF)
675:(PDF)
668:(PDF)
644:(PDF)
637:(PDF)
554:(PDF)
547:(PDF)
386:Orion
314:Civil
1078:2016
1048:2018
1022:2018
810:2018
728:OSTI
709:2015
683:2015
617:2015
588:2015
562:2015
473:BSEE
471:and
469:BOEM
398:NASA
394:Mars
372:NASA
352:and
272:ITER
107:1979
100:1979
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