With the goal of returning the structure to the original design condition, Florida Power and Light Company (FP&L) decided to repair the structural degradation of the curtain wall, panels and bulkhead wall at a fossil fuel plant. Extremely important to the operations of the facility, the curtain walls are the channel walls that carry the water used to cool the power plant.  Having worked with FP&L on several other projects, Structural Preservation Systems (SPS) has always met their budget and schedule goals, so they were an obvious choice for this project. Further, SPS is one of only two contractors approved by the owner to perform this type of work. Productivity was increased on the site by using a barge that was retooled with a marine platform. This gave crews a larger work area and they could also handle more debris. SPS estimates that they gained 25 percent more efficiency by utilizing the barge for mobilization.

To begin the work, destructive testing was performed on the panel to develop a plan for removal. The tests revealed that the connection to the main beam was corroded and damaged. It was determined that core drilling through to a one-inch diameter would have created several fractures in the panel. As such, the team opted to melt away the five-foot long anchors to preserve the integrity of the panels. To complete the innovative strategy, crews had to use a welding machine to increase the temperature of the anchors to a level where they would melt away. Crews had extensive training to ensure safety at all times and ensure they understood how to accomplish this unique aspect of the project. A three-person crew removed the anchors on the first panel on the first day. Once the anchors were removed, a 125-ton crane was used to remove the panel. As the crews gained additional experience with the procedure, they were able to remove more panels each day.

Once the panels were removed, destructive tests were performed on the beam and it was determined that the beam was deficient and would need to be rebuilt. The beam was 80 feet long and 2.5 feet wide. Not a part of the original scope of work, the beam was critical to the project because the new panels that SPS was casting and placing had to be attached to this beam. Crews demolished all unsound concrete, cleaned the rebar, as well as formed and poured back the concrete. All of this work was performed from a barge. It was determined that the hand-chipping process was too slow, so the team developed an alternative strategy to use Brook robotic equipment for the chipping. This strategy required only the equipment and two employees on the barge at anytime, which resulted in a saving of 1,500 man-hours and was completed in 48 hours. Conventional methods of demolition would have required 10-12 employees working from the barge and would have taken about 6-8 working days longer. 

To save time, crews pre-poured the four new panels and they were cured for 28 days. A crane lifted the panels from the barge into place. Four new anchors were placed in each of the new panels to secure them to the bulkhead wall.

The owner was extremely pleased with the result of this project. Even though the deterioration of the concrete was more than anticipated and resulted in an increased scope of work, SPS was able to complete the project on time.