The Big Lift
HICAPS was selected as the contractor to relocate the Enterprise Land Mobile Radio (ELMR) system from its original 90-foot location atop Building A-128 to its permanent location 10 stories high on the rooftop of BuildingW-143 at the Naval Base in Norfolk Virginia.

The ELMR relocation was a significant portion of a $2.5 million site improvement project to demolish the obsolete building
A-128 and create much needed parking near the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. Before the demolition could be completed, a new 100-foot tower had to be erected and the 34,000-lb. communications shelter containing the ELMR system had to be moved to its new location several blocks away.

HICAPS’ Project Managers, Tom Smithey and Thom Bradley, worked in partnership with Norfolk based communications contractor CR Services Inc. and the Chesapeake, Virginia based prime contractor, SYNCON LLC to successfully move the mission critical ELMR and its sensitive equipment from its original location to its new home.

The project team worked to design and install a new grounding system that would provide lightning protection for the ELMR at its new location. The new 100-foot ELMR tower was successfully erected at its new home overlooking the Elizabeth River in April of this year. The bigger challenge came in August when the 34,000-lb. communications shelter was lifted off Building A-128 and transported approximately three-quarters of a mile to its permanent location on Building W-143. Using one of W.O. Grubb’s largest cranes with a capacity of 365 tons and a reach of more than 200 feet, the fully loaded communications shelter was carefully lifted and transported to its new home and was back online in five days.