R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, a rigging, demolition, machinery moving and equipment relocation contractor, recently completed the relocation of the USS Intrepid’s propeller at the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

Under a previous contract, R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services (R. Baker & Son) had previously staged the propeller while a steel display frame was being fabricated. The propeller is solid brass, weighs 28,000 lbs. (12,700 kg) and is 15 ft. 6 in. (4.7 m) from blade tip to blade tip.

This next phase of the project required R. Baker & Son to lift the propeller from a horizontal position into a vertical position and mount the propeller onto the frame. The frame then needed to be relocated to another part of the carrier for permanent display.

To accomplish this task, a five-man expert rigging crew was mobilized to the site. In addition, a 5,000-lb. (2,268 kg) Hyster forklift, two scissor lifts, chain blocks and other various rigging equipment were delivered to the site.

Using the various rigging equipment, the R. Baker & Son rigging crew lifted the propeller from a horizontal position into a vertical position. Because the propeller was located in the bay of the carrier, there was very little headroom and the crews had only about 6 in. (15 cm) of clearance once the propeller was stood straight up.

Once in a vertical position, the propeller was held in place via chain blocks while a 3,800-lb. (1,724 kg) shaft was inserted. Once the shaft was in place, the assembly was then carefully landed onto the steel display frame.

The entire frame and propeller assembly then needed to be moved approximately 150 ft. (45.7 m) to its final location. In order to accomplish this, the epoxy floor first had to be protected with hardboard. Following protection of the floor, R. Baker & Son’s rigging crews used several 15-ton (13.6 t) Teflon skates along with the 5,000-lb. forklift to carefully move the assembly to its final location.

The project was completed within the one day timeframe set by the client. The project was incident and accident free.

About R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services is a specialized contractor for dismantlement, decommissioning, plant relocations and demolition in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The veteran-owned company has been in business since 1935 and has more than 100 employees. Capabilities include total turnkey plant and facility dismantlement, decommissioning, demolition, onsite concrete crushing as well as heavy equipment rigging, entire plant relocations, machinery moving and millwright services.

For more information, 732/222-3553 or visit www.rbaker.com.

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