Balfour Cheeseman clearly has a passion for Brokk machines, and over the past 14 years, the president of Cheeseman’s Concrete Removal in Vancouver, British Columbia, has made Brokk jobs his main business.
Before using Brokks, the company primarily placed concrete. To keep busy during slow times, Cheeseman also would take jobs removing concrete. They were jobs no one ever wanted, which put Cheeseman on the end of a jackhammer. That was before he saw a picture of a Brokk 40 in an issue of Popular Science that changed his business forever.
“That was 14 years ago and I haven’t looked back,” Cheeseman said. “Mike Martin was instrumental in making it all work. I was sold on the Brokk 40, but with the type of work I was doing he recommended moving up to a larger model.”
Cheeseman now owns three Brokks: a 50, a 180 and his most recent purchase, a 400. The 180 has been the stepping stone, helping Cheeseman morph his business from a concrete placing company into the concrete removal company it is today. “The machine and its attachments allow me to take on new opportunities that others won’t or simply can’t,” he said. Having that kind of tool to do those jobs quickly and safely has made Cheeseman’s Concrete Removal an all-Brokk company that keeps at least one of its three Brokks busy five days a week. “If I could do it seven days a week, I would,” he added.
Cheeseman uses the Brokks on a lot of bridges, performing deck repairs or lane expansions. Often, engineers have stipulated the use of the remote-controlled machines right in the project specifications, he said. The company most recently earned the contract for work on the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver. It’s the largest in the city with eight lanes of traffic and a span of 2,400 feet. The bridge is undergoing seismic upgrades and all its expansions joints are being replaced.
With the Brokk 50 and hammer attachment, Cheeseman is handling the delicate work of removing concrete around the expansion joints. His is able to keep the hammer at the optimal angle so he can excavate with minimal damage to surrounding concrete. Because the Brokk operates with fewer vibrations and without the bouncing that normally occurs with a jackhammer, he is able to maintain precise control and avoid causing damage to existing rebar.
The minimal vibration also allows Cheeseman to work on tunnel projects where safety and stability are paramount. The use of jackhammers is limited or banned in many tunnels because they can cause serious damage and make the tunnels unsafe.
Whether he’s on – or under – familiar ground or not, Cheeseman is ready to take on the project with a Brokk. And that makes him a Brokk Star.
