Burnt chipper and bloody calluses: how I broke concrete during the USSR

There are two opposite opinions about the Soviet quality: some say that it was built for centuries; others say - everywhere there was hack and window dressing. It is difficult to judge this: technology has stepped far forward and comparison with modern reality will be inappropriate. But a member of our portal felt with his own hands the strength of concrete from the times of the USSR and was happy to share his story.

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This happened last fall. A distant relative turned to me for help. She planned to change the monument on her father's grave, but money was limited and it was decided to dismantle the old gravestone on her own. This was entrusted to me, since I have some tools and experience in construction.

But I am a busy person and I have attracted a neighbor to this work. What difference does it make who will do it? The result is important here, not the performer. And the man will earn a little!

Arming my neighbor with a sledgehammer, crowbar, cart and other utensils, I took him to the cemetery, showed the object and gave instructions. At the end of the dismantling, he had to take out the concrete remains and call me. For everything about everything, I allocated one and a half thousand rubles, lunch expenses, and also one full working day.

A big problem

But I received the call not in the evening, as planned, but after an hour and a half. An alarmed voice on the other side announced that the concrete would not break. "Well, again twenty-five with these alcoholics!" - I thought and hurried to the cemetery.

On the spot, I saw that the top layer of marble tiles had been removed, and under it was a bluish concrete a bun, about 2 * 1.3 * 0.5 m in size.Crushed stone in the concrete is large, here and there the sixteenth fittings. The look at the tombstone is frighteningly powerful, but that didn't stop me.

Grasping the sledgehammer and hitting the edge of the pillow ten times, two things reached me. First: the ritualists asked for the dismantling of 10 thousand, which means they guessed about the complexity of the work - and these are not only narrow paths in the old cemetery. The second came to my mind right away: the relative who installed this tombstone worked in the Mostootryad and, therefore, would have to fight with high-strength bridge concrete. But there is nowhere to retreat.

Tedious dismantling

The wooden handle of my sledgehammer cracked after 15 minutes of hard work. I went for another. I took a self-made weighty hammer with an all-metal handle from friends. But this disc did not help either. All I did to her was to break off a corner twenty centimeters thick. Well, besides, he also broke his hands in blood.

"We need to use a power tool!" - I figured and went for a hammer drill and a generator. I brought it, launched it, tried it. The punch sluggishly pecked at this cyanotic concrete, but did not give any sense, only raised the dust. "We'll have to look for a bump stop" - this is the next thought that flashed in my head.

The bump stop was rented. I gave 1 thousand rubles for this pleasure. rubles. But the jackhammer was no use either. He shivered, gnawed at the concrete, chipping off small pieces. When deepening the peak, it constantly got stuck and it was a problem to get it. I tried all the attachments - well, this damn pillow does not give in! Having estimated how much I will grind this bun into crushed stone, my hands dropped: in an hour of working with a chipper, I did not even remove one corner.

Or maybe a crane?

Before turning to my friends for help, I figured out another option: make undermines under the pillow, start the slings and pull it out to hell with a crane. But here, too, a bummer - the crane did not reach, and the one that did, could not get into the cemetery, and it was not cheap.

How we solved the problem

By evening, experts came to the rescue. Discussion began on the dismantling of the century. Of all the ideas, among which jokingly flashed "it must be blown up", one path was chosen.

The idea was as follows:

• make a tunnel and put metal sheets-stops on the bottom;
• using jacks and levers to raise one side;

• put a metal pipe under the center of the pillow and lower the jacks;
• prick the pillow with a bump stop in the middle.

Then repeat the process: divide the half into two parts again and so on. Crush until you have pieces that can be transported on a cart. According to this idea, the pipe should hold the concrete bun in weight, which will allow it to break under its own weight. So they began to do so.

I had to look for three powerful jacks, a mountain of scrap metal, involve two more people in this business, take a day off and spend the whole next day on this activity. Yes, and paying for it all - reputation was at stake.

Final story

In the early morning of the next day, a tunnel was made and jacks were installed. The pillow was lifted and a powerful thick-walled pipe was tucked under it.

Then a jackhammer came into play. Such heavy and viscous concrete was never met by anyone present. The work was going on with difficulty, but progress was made.

We got to the first row of reinforcement that needed to be cut. The grinder did not fit into the opening, I had to think about how to adapt. A good old hacksaw for metal came to the rescue - the first two rods were cut like clockwork. Things went more fun.

When the upper row of reinforcement was sawn through, the pillow burst, but did not break until the end - another reinforcing row was waiting below. They also got to it with a bump stop and sawed it off. Finally, this concrete hulk turned into two halves.

A pipe was placed under one half and the procedure was repeated. Everything went according to plan, but here the rolled bump stop, worn out by the hands, let down. It burned down, announcing this with the pungent smell of scorched plastic. I had to go for another.

It was unexpected

It was getting close to evening, and the pillow was only divided into two parts. I was already in the mood for hard work until the very night and just in case I brought a searchlight, but here some miracle happened: the concrete began to give in. The work went faster and, most importantly, easier.

I associate all this with the total tonnage of shocks and vibrations that this long-suffering concrete bun got. A certain limit has come, beyond which the inaccessible gray concrete surrendered and began to collapse. By the evening of the second day, the work was completed.

She stood up to me in a round sum:

• rent of the first bump stop - 2 thous. rubles;
• rent of the second bump stop - 1 thous. rubles;
• repair of the first bump stop - 4 thous. rubles;
• workers' pay - 5 thousand rubles;
• gratitude to all the helping inventory and advice in the form of a set table - 3 thousand rubles;
• purchase of scrap metal, transportation costs, other - 2 thous. rubles;
• bloody calluses - healed for ten days;
• two beautiful autumn days - lost forever;
• nerve cells - have not yet recovered.

Total: 17 thousand rubles. I would have known I had paid 10 thousand ritualists to invent methods of dismantling the concrete pavement themselves, which by an incredible coincidence ended up in the cemetery.

P.S. I did not take a photo from the scene - there was no time for that. For this fascinating story, images from open sources have been selected.

Have you encountered such difficulties when dismantling old objects? Write in the comments.

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