The Strength Of 20 Men

“Brokk does the work of 20 men, with no workman’s comp claims.”

The headline caught Matt Alexander’s eye. President of True-Line Coring & Cutting in Tampa, Fla., Alexander is no stranger to cutting and coring equipment, but the Brokk machine was something new.

A part of the Coring & Cutting Group, True-Line Coring & Cutting in Tampa is one of 18 Coring & Cutting Group locations throughout the United States that focus primarily on work in concrete cutting. While the companies don’t work directly with one another, they lend a helping hand or piece of advice when needed.

“Ron Dailey, who runs the True-Line Coring & Cutting Nashville office, was the first person in our group to buy a Brokk. That was right around the time that I became owner of the Tampa office,” said Alexander. “Ron was calling me constantly, telling me about these Brokk machines and that I needed to get one.”

Skeptical at first, Alexander flew up to Nashville to watch the Brokk in action. It was at that time the Brokk ad also caught his eye, and Alexander invested in a Brokk 180 of his own. The decision hasn’t only diversified the work of True-Line Coring & Cutting, but has helped the company’s demolition customers as well.

Alexander’s team uses the Brokk machine in conjunction with concrete cutting, so their customers are able to hire them for both portions of the job rather than hiring two contractors. In some cases, however, customers approach Alexander’s team specifically because of the Brokk machine.

That was exactly the case with Kimmins Contracting, a long-time customer of True-Line Coring & Cutting that had been hired to take down three silos and a grain elevator near the Port of Tampa. It was a perfect Brokk Job.

High heights and dangerous conditions made initiating the demolition work difficult without a Brokk machine. The three silos stood at 150 feet tall, the grain elevator stood at 180 feet and all of them were located no more than five feet away from tanks filled with gasoline and diesel fuel. This meant a wrecking ball or explosives were out of the question, as no debris could fall on the tanks. Kimmins would need to demolish the structures piece by piece, and the company’s plan was to use a large concrete crusher to accomplish that.

“To remove the debris from the middle of the structure, holes had to be cut on the bottom of the silos where the debris could fall out through,” said Alexander. “We were hired to do the concrete cutting of those holes, but also to remove the ceilings of the structures to initiate the demolition work.”

And that’s exactly where the Brokk machine came in handy. It moved workers away from danger and removed the ceilings efficiently.

“We used the Brokk 180 on the job, and one operator. The Brokk machine was hoisted onto the silos with a crane, and our operator stood away from the work on a separate man lift,” said Alexander. “The Brokk, equipped with a hammer, broke up the roof and dropped the debris safely into the silo.”

Without the Brokk, men would have needed to stand on the roof with jackhammers, putting themselves in danger. The Brokk made the job safe and Alexander’s team was able to complete the work in two weeks, and Kimmins Contracting was able to start its portion of the project with ample time. With Brokk and True-Line Coring & Cutting, Kimmins was able to crush down the silos and grain elevators easily – finishing the entire job in two months.

“It’s work like this that proves the ad that caught my eye years ago was 100 percent correct about the Brokk machines,” said Alexander. “And it continues to reaffirm our decision in purchasing the Brokk units”

Today, True-Line Coring & Cutting has three Brokk units, two 180s and a 90, and Alexander says they use them on jobs on a weekly basis – all the while completing work safely and efficiently.