Montauk Point Lighthouse REVETMENT PROJECT - $4.5 MILLION of Heavy Equipment Loaded On Beached Barge

So, what do you do when you need to move a cool $4.5M worth of heavy equipment weighing over HALF MILLION POUNDS from the edge of the OCEAN to your next job site??? Why, obviously, you push a barge through the SURF ZONE right up on the beach with a couple of tug boats, then drive those machines onto the barge over some wooden planks! ( What could POSSIBLY go wrong?! ) Well, that's exactly what the experienced, professional team from H&L Contracting did on May 8, 2023.
Loading heavy equipment onto a barge is a risky operation under the best of circumstances, but doing it onto a barge in the SURF ZONE on an ocean beach, with full exposure to the unpredictable elements of the Atlantic adds a whole new set of challenges to contend with. In what was truly an historic moment, and a first of it's kind (EVER) operation performed in Turtle Cove on the South side of Montauk Point (one of the best surfing spots on L.I. ), H&L Contracting successfully loaded the two (2) LARGEST pieces of heavy equipment remaining at the site onto a barge that was beached close to high tide. The operation involved waiting for just the right moment, then executing with clockwork like precision between multiple crews. It was a rather impressive feat, not to be soon replicated.
The conundrum revolved around the absolute enormity of machines like the Sennebogen 875e Hybrid and the difficulty of disassembling, transporting by road and then reassembling. The 875e is primarily designed for applications like unloading massive amounts of cargo (300+T/hour) in busy ports and not for mobility. It can literally lift the weight of a fully loaded 18-wheeler (tractor and trailer) in a SINGLE PICK and then manipulate it with incredible finesse and pinpoint accuracy, which is why it was so perfect for working with the massive stones and performing precision sets required for the revetment work at Montauk Point.
The process of breaking down and moving a machine like the 875e is extremely complicated to say the least, especially after working in salt water for the last 2 years. Just to start the process you need a crane, but even before that you need another crane to assemble the crane that's actually BIG ENOUGH to assemble/disassemble the 875e! Then, the machine has to be loaded and hauled out on a minimum of seven (7) 18-wheeler tractor trailers to distribute the weight of the parts into legal sized loads. After all that, of course, you have to put it all back together when you get where you are going. In the end it winds up costing about a QUARTER OF A MILLION $$$DOLLAR$$$ in equipment and man power to move the 875e alone! So, the answer was to barge the Sennebogen 875e as well as a Komatsu PC1250 out from Turtle Cove. A bold plan to say the least.
Congratulations on a job well done to everyone involved in this and the whole revetment operation!

[@josephryan6593]

Another great video by the Drone Star again, You must of been nosing around to be able to find out when they were pulling out. If The operators of the H&l excavators were company men they were covered by Local 138 Operating Engineers operators from Farmingdale New York which i am a member of. I worked at Gilgo beach ten years ago running a front end loader like that setting 40 foot of pipe down on the beach of seven miles .We had a dredge digging the ocean bottom for material to build up the infamous beach all winter. It was a seven-million-dollar job that took 7 months of working Nites during the winter time and was very challenging when it snowed.

[@montaukdronestar7710]

Hey, thanks so much for watching... so glad you enjoyed it! Not sure about H&L re. Local 138 but you are most likely correct. Wow that Gilgo project sounds like it was a rough gig!! Slip sliding on the snow at the edge of an angry ocean at night on a front end loader... ummmm pass thanks! ;-)

[@josephryan6593]

One of hardest thing was being able to see at nite since we had only two light towers on the beach, and getting to the job since i lived 30 miles away. I never missed a nites worth of work during that time since the pay was excellent. One time the foreman asked me to take a 40 foot long 2-foot diameter pipe that was clogged with sand and wash it out at the edge of the beach. Looking at the water facing out to sea and having the waves splashing on the windshield was interesting while feeling the front end loaders wheels sinking every time a wave receded from the shore line.hahahahahaha @@montaukdronestar7710

[@montaukdronestar7710]

@@josephryan6593 Yeah, NO, hard pass for me on washing out the 40 foot sand clogged pipe in the surf with a front end loader, LOL. I would have told the foreman he can stick his pipe where.... u know the rest!!

[@111Makai111]

Just be sure to sweep up after yourselves, would ya? ; )

[@ABz729]

What exactly is the construction for? Is it too dangerous and they’re fixing it? Or just redoing it?

[@montaukdronestar7710]

The existing revetment that protects the toe of the bluff which the lighthouse sits on was in a state of disrepair and beginning to deteriorate at a faster and faster rate over the years. It was, for all practical purposes, completely rebuilt... and this time designed to handle much harsher conditions for a much longer period of time.

[@montaukdronestar7710]

After man years of constant pounding by the surf and marine elements the previous work that was done to protect the toe of the bluff needed to be completely redone. The new structure is designed to withstand much harsher conditions and hopefully last much longer.