Peak Excellence
May 10, 2022
By: Alexa Schlosser
For over half a century, 14,115 feet up at the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado, sat a famous gift and donut shop, the Summit House. Over the years, the building had slowly shifted, causing concern about the foundation and overall safety of the structure. Repairs were performed, but the inevitable became a reality: The Summit House needed to be replaced. The building of a new Pikes Peak Summit House Complex began in 2018, and the general contractor, GE Johnson Construction Company, chose local NDA member Iron Mountain Demolition to tackle the demolition of the old building.
Phases 1 and 2
Iron Mountain performed the job in two main phases. The first phase began in the fall of 2018 and included demolishing the building that supplied the utility services for the existing Summit House using a Volvo with a thumb. This needed to be done because the new Summit House Complex’s footprint overlapped the existing utility building.
The plan was to keep the former Summit House open through construction of the new building, says Dennis Gullion, the demolition project manager. “After the new building was complete, the former would be closed, and demolition of the second phase would begin.”
In a strategic move to complete the project sooner, so that it would not extend into another winter season, the general contractor moved the demolition dates from September 2021 to February 2021. The mountain officials agreed to completely close the peak from the public for several months starting in January 2021, allowing construction and demolition crews to work without the fear of visitors being in the area.
Both phases of the project involved Iron Mountain performing selective interior demolition before heavy equipment was mobilized to fully demolish the structure. “At 14,115 feet above sea level,” says Gullion, “there are heavy winds. Iron Mountain demoed from the inside out to keep the wind from carrying debris across the Pikes Peak mountain range.” Interior debris was hauled outside by hand to a closed-top roll-off container to keep it secure.
The wind remained a challenge even after the interior demolition, however, and a small crew had to be assigned to police the area and collect any debris that might dislodge from the building during the heavy demolition portion of the job, Gullion says.
During the second phase, Iron Mountain started with a Cat 336 with a thumb but “moved to a Hitachi 350 with the oilquick system that allowed us to utilize the sheer, concrete cracker, grapple and crypto claw,” Gullion says. “The ability to switch from one attachment to another in a matter of seconds allowed us to minimize the machine usage and maximize the efficiency.”
Project Challenges
In addition to the challenges posed by the wind on top of Pikes Peak, working so high above sea level meant working under low-oxygen conditions, which impacted workers’ stamina. Workers were required to pass a physical examination before starting the project, but “acclimation took time, which impacted production,” Gullion says.
The weather was also a factor. While it was good weather for the most part in Phase 1, which started in August, Phase 2 started in January, the heart of the winter, where there were “winds up to 75 mph, lightning storms, cloud cover that limited visibility [and] wind chills in the negative 20s,” Gullion says. “There were some beautiful clear days that were enjoyable, but the extreme weather was crazy.”
Being at the top of a mountain meant it was difficult to mobilize equipment. “Each day, the plan was to be at the gate at 5:30 a.m. to drive the 23-mile trip up the mountain,” Gullion says. “It was then that we were given the green light to go to the top of the mountain to work. If there was too much snow or the roads were too bad to travel, the day was canceled. This made it challenging to plan and be productive throughout the job.”
Additionally, during mobilization, the crews could only get lowboys to mile marker 9. The equipment then had to be tracked the rest of the way to the summit. “The drive up every day really wore on everyone,” Gullion says.
“Driving up was not bad because there were no tourists. However, driving down was a struggle because of the traffic to get off the mountain. After being at 14,115 feet for six to eight hours, your body felt exhausted at the end of the day, only to return the next day and do it again.”
Once the equipment was at the top, the challenges didn’t cease. “We were lucky to get two loads per truck removed,” Gullion says. “We couldn’t use end dumps or side dumps because of the hairpin turns. We had to use 30-yard roll-off containers and tandem trucks. This greatly reduced the volume we could get inside the truck per load. We ran five to six trucks per day.”
The location proved challenging for the equipment in other ways, as well. Engine adjustments had to be made throughout the process to handle the thin air at the top of the peak, as “engines were not designed for that altitude,” Gullion says. The machines were also known to freeze. “Because of the extreme conditions, a generator was used to energize block heaters so the engines would start,” he says.
Worth It
Despite all the challenges, Gullion and the Iron Mountain team consider the job a huge success. The company had a goal to fulfill the Living Building Challenge for the job, which meant diverting at least 90% of total material with all trades. Iron Mountain removed over 1,500 tons of material, ultimately diverting 96% from the landfill. In addition to sustainability achievements, Gullion feels a more personal sense of accomplishment. “To be a part of a project that millions of people have traveled all over the world to see gives me a sense of pride and fulfillment,” Gullion says. “There’s an acknowledgement in the new Summit Complex that recognizes every single person who worked on the project. This is something that my kids, grandkids, great-grandkids and beyond can tell the stories of working on Pikes Peak.”
Pikes Peak Perk
“During Phase 1, we could demo during the day but had to wait for the mountain to close before sending trucks to the peak to remove debris. I received a call at about 10 p.m. one night from a driver who had blown a tire and needed help. I dispatched a team to get up the mountain and change the tire, and I took the role of getting some mobile lights and delivering them to the truck so that we could see what we were doing. Before leaving the house, I asked my 20-yearold son if he wanted to go with me. He agreed, and we collected the lights and drove to the truck on the mountain.
The driver of the truck caught a ride down the mountain to get something to eat and wait until others were headed up to change the tire. On the way up, I collected one of the mountain radios to communicate to everyone and let them know where we were. My son and I beat everyone to the truck. We set up the lights and spent about 30 or 40 minutes waiting for the others to arrive. It was a great father-son bonding time, hanging out on Pikes Peak at midnight.
The team arrived, and the tire was changed rather quickly. Before heading back down the mountain, I had to return the radio to the job trailer at the peak next to the Summit House. My son and I drove up and returned the radio, and we paused before descending down to look around at the sights atop the peak. While we were looking at the beautiful stars and the sky, I witnessed a couple of shooting stars. It turned out to be a meteor shower. It was an incredible night that we will never forget.” —Dennis Gullion, Iron Mountain Demolition