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The main roof truss, which contained the arena's penthouse, was not only the largest component to be <br />removed but also the last. The roof truss itself was 440' long, constructed of steel with concrete <br />decking, weighing 2,480 gross tons. <br />Rather than dismantling the truss at height, beam by beam, Adamo teamed with Mammoet, a Canadian <br />firm that specializes in engineering and completing heavy lifting and transportation, to develop and <br />execute plans to lower the entire roof truss structure in a single piece, a method that would provide <br />more control during execution. <br />A lack of detailed information about the truss and its weight posed a challenge. After careful study, a <br />lifting procedure was developed with input from field supervisors and engineering to lift the truss free <br />while still allowing the operation to be safely aborted should the weight of the truss be greater than that <br />originally estimated. It was also imperative to lower the truss without jeopardizing the existing nearby <br />infrastructure. <br />On the day of the <br />lowering, the <br />Mammoet team lifted <br />the truss to verify its <br />weight and, once <br />deemed acceptable, <br />Adamo removed the <br />ends of the truss to <br />provide clearance to <br />lower it past the <br />existing supports. <br />Eight strand jacks were <br />utilized for lowering <br />the truss, with two <br />pairs of 8' tall girders, braced together, supporting the roof. Within four hours of the ends being cut <br />free, the team had successfully completed the lowering of the truss from a height of 85' to 20' and set it <br />on shoring piles for further processing by conventional machine methods, sizing it into smaller, more <br />manageable, pieces. <br />"The Joe," as JLA is affectionately referred to by locals, opened in 1979 and was the home of the <br />NHL's Detroit Red Wings for 38 seasons, a 25-season NHL post -season streak, 4 NHL Stanley Cup <br />Championships and over 600 concerts and other sporting events, before holding its final event in July <br />2017. The arena held more than 20,000 spectators per event and was named after a former <br />heavyweight champion boxer, Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit. <br />iJDAMO <br />�ETRO�T, MI <br />