PRESS RELEASE
Contact : Kim Hock FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: 713-987-0000 April 25, 2018
Website: www.cherrycompanies.com
CHERRY COMPANIES DEMOLISHES SOUTHMORE ST BRIDGE
Houston, Texas, 2018 - Where the Southmore St bridge once stood, is now open highway. Over the weekend of April 20, Cherry Companies demolished the bridge as part of the on-going SH 288 expansion designed to improve operational efficiencies along a 10.3-mile stretch within the SH 288 median (from the SH 288/U.S. Route 59 interchange to south of the Sam Houston Tollway).
Cherry has been involved with the expansion project since 2016 partnering with Almeda-Genoa Constructors (A-GC), a fully-integrated joint venture between Dragados USA Inc., Pulice Construction Inc., and Shikun & Binui Concessions USA Inc. Cherry has been a part of the SH 288 road removal as well as providing recycled aggregates and stabilized materials for the road base.
“This was a cross-divisional team effort involving Cherry personnel from Road Removal, Commercial Demolition, Safety, Transportation and our Crushed Concrete Divisions. It was a pleasure to partner with A-GC and it was smooth sailing for the duration of the project. We planned our work and we worked our plan,” says CJ Waller, Jr, Cherry Road Removal Division Manager.
Cherry mobilized equipment on Wednesday afternoon moving 5 excavators onto the bridge. Working closely with Traffic Control, this portion of SH 288 was closed allowing Cherry to work around the clock to complete the bridge demolition and removal. Cherry spread concrete fines under the bridge to absorb the impact and protect the highway from the initial collapse, which occurred around 1AM Saturday morning. Continuing throughout the night, the majority of the bridge was on the ground by Saturday afternoon. It was then a matter of removing materials off the highway. Utilizing trailer trucks to transport approximately 230 loads, Cherry removed over 5,000 tons of concrete and steel. Efficiency was key in this project in an effort to have the demolition and removal of the bridge completed to allow the highway to reopen by 5AM Monday morning. In fact, Cherry released the highway to A-GC 6 hours ahead of schedule on Sunday evening at 6PM. And with Cherry’s motto of “safety-first”, it’s no surprise that they experienced zero incidents or accidents. Cherry had on-site safety managers for the entire duration of the demolition and removal process.
Cherry Companies is a demolition and recycling company based in Houston, Texas. In its 66
th
year of operation, Cherry specializes in removing all types of structures—from highways and bridges, industrial plants and commercial buildings to residences—through demolition and other deconstruction techniques. In addition, Cherry is the largest privately-owned recycling company in Texas and the Gulf Coast region. Cherry recycles more than three million tons of concrete and asphalt, thousands of tons of steel every year, as well as residential composition asphalt shingles. Furthermore, Cherry is a major producer of stabilized materials and recycled aggregates.
For more information about Cherry Companies or the Southmore Bridge Demolition project, please contact Kim Hock at 713-987-0000 or email at kim@cherrycompanies.com.
