Bringing Down Big Brown
April 05, 2022
By: Monica Roselli
The Big Brown Power Plant was exactly that: big. Operating from 1971 to 2018 in Fairfield, Texas, the 1,150-megawatt coal-fired power plant had two 260-foot-tall boilers, two 450-foot-tall stacks, four precipitators, a COHPAC system, coal handling equipment and conveyors, and an ash/storage recycling system.
After sitting idle for roughly two years, NDA member Trifecta Services Company was chosen to bring down Big Brown starting in January 2020. The job was right in Trifecta’s wheelhouse, as the company was responsible for the full decommissioning of the power plant, which included boiler wash down, oil collection and draining, ash collection, water management, universal waste removal and intake closure, in addition to the demolition to grade of the entire site.
To tackle such a large job, Trifecta broke the decommissioning strategy into three phases: environmental remediation, mechanical wrecking and implosion.
The first two phases included addressing the environmental concerns and prepping the site for implosion of the boilers and stacks. Trifecta’s crew, which ranged from 18-45 workers, began by washing down the boilers, and collecting oils, universal waste and ash left behind after the power plant shut down. Trifecta dedicated a portion of its large equipment arsenal to this project, which included the use of 80,000-, 100,000- and 200,000-pound machines and 11,000-30,000-pound shears.
“Trifecta’s large equipment was able to tackle the outlying structures associated with the coal yard, conveyors, COHPAC, ash collection system, precipitators and turbine deck using traditional mechanical wrecking methods,” says Mark Lee, Trifecta’s vice president. “We needed to make room to lay the boilers down when imploded.”
Once the ancillary structures were cleared, the crew followed an engineered plan and began day lighting the bottom 45 feet of the boilers. This step included removing all nonstructural items, coal pulverizers, steam pipes, boiler walls, catwalks and ducting. All that was left were the structural columns, which needed special cuts before the implosion.
“The structural columns received specific cuts in preparation for shape charges to explosively fell the boiler,” Lee says.
Once the boiler and stack area was ready, crews shifted into the implosion phase. The blasting contactor was mobilized and charges were placed. The four structures felled and Trifecta’s crew worked to clean up, process and recycle the remaining ferrous, nonferrous and inert material. In total, 40,000 tons of steel was able to be recycled from the property.
After two years of work, Trifecta is currently wrapping up the project in Q2 of 2022. While Lee notes that the sheer size and complexity of the project has made it a challenge, Trifecta is happy to have completed the job safely, profitably and ahead of schedule.