44 million pounds of concrete makes a positive impact at Crosstown Concourse

By Grinder, Taber & Grinder (Originally printed in the Memphis Business Journal/July 2022)

No visit to Crosstown Concourse is complete without taking a moment to marvel at its architectural centerpiece: the colossal atrium overlooked by nine stories of cascading balconies.

Where once employees and customers of the towering Sears, Roebuck and Company distribution center and retail store bustled about in cramped, crowded spaces, the visionary architects at LRK of Memphis and Dialog Design of Canada saw the potential to create a welcoming, light-drenched modern space — a wow moment, if you will.

The only thing that stood between the building as it existed and the vision of what it would become, was 44 million pounds of concrete stacked nine stories high.

The strategy we developed at Grinder, Taber & Grinder to demolish those layers of concrete, maintain the structural integrity of the building, and remove all the resulting rubble is a story that only a few have heard. 

First, we cut a hole. Then we cut a bigger hole. 

For a number of reasons, we decided to start at the top and work our way down. That meant a chunk of the exterior wall had to be removed, creating a space large enough for a crane to fly in the heavy machinery up to places where heavy machinery was not designed to go. To ensure that the vibrations from operating those machines would not cause any unintended damage to the building, it was necessary to position them directly above an original support column — the same columns you see still standing as part of the iconic aesthetic of the building.

That technique provided only part of the solution. Equipped with breakers 12 to 15 feet in reach, half the distance between columns, the crews then played demolition leap-frog, cutting around the remainder of the columns and smashing the concrete until only a four-foot perimeter remained. After cutting the moderately sized hole that would become the main atrium, the remainder of the concrete was removed using more precise methods, trimming each floor into a perfect quadrilateral that would accommodate the metal railings of the balconies. 

But where did all that concrete go?

Demolition is one thing. But removal of 44 million pounds of concrete made traditional methods impractical. The solution? Let gravity do the work. 

Remember, we started at the top, so as we dropped one level, it fell down onto the level directly below. From there we pushed the fallen debris to the side where it was dropped down a hole that spanned all nine floors. The process was then repeated floor by floor.

If you envisioned the conventional teams of demolition specialists furiously chipping away at floor after floor of the concrete structure, you’re not entirely mistaken. This project, however, would prove to require anything but a conventional approach.

For six months, the rumbling of concrete crashing downward filled every day, until finally, the space was cleared for all six atria. The resulting mass was so large that our crews were able to drive their Bobcats straight up the pile and directly into a second story window.

Crosstown lights the way.

Eventually, all 44 million pounds of broken concrete was diverted off site and recycled, clearing the way to create the magnificent space that now welcomes 3,000 visitors a day. As Memphians, we couldn’t be prouder of the part Grinder, Taber & Grinder played in the building’s transformation and the renewed vitality brought to an important Memphis neighborhood.

Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc. served as the general contractor for the Crosstown Concourse project totaling over $225 million in construction costs and involving everything from demolition and historic renovation to ongoing tenant infill and new construction. We are a full service commercial and industrial construction firm, which is in its sixth decade of continuous operations in the Mid-South area. Visit our website to learn more about how we can help you with your construction challenges.