A severe storm caused a large Norway maple tree to fail and fall on top of a house in Clifton. The tree damaged portions of the house, sidewalk, garden wall and yard upon impact. Extreme care had to be taken when removing the portion of the tree off of and against the house to make sure no further damage was done during the removal process due to the compression loading of the tree against the house.
A 65 meter ton Palfinger crane was used in conjunction with a 33 meter ton Palfinger crane to safely remove the tree and tree parts off of the house. Due to the location of the tree the cranes were set up on the street. Plywood and outrigger pads were installed under the cranes stabilizers to protect the property.
Once the crane was set up the tree parts were lifted off of the house then landed in the road as there was no other place to stage them. Once we removed all the limbs off of the tree we used a second crane in conjunction with the first crane to remove the large uprooted trunk section off of the house. The tree parts were processed as we went in order to keep the road clear as well as to be able to put the next piece down in the road. The logs were loaded into a hook lift truck and brought to a green waste recycling facility. Sections of the roof that were damaged from the impact of the tree were tarped.
The pieces of sidewalk that had been lifted when the tree failed were picked up with the crane and neatly staged on the side of the property awaiting a mason to repair. Cones and caution tape were installed where the sidewalk previously was to make the area safe for the public.
A stump grinder was brought in and the large uprooted stump was ground out approximately 4 to 6 inches below grade. The excess stump grindings and debris were disposed of at a green waste recycling facility and the rest of the area was raked out level with the surrounding grade.
