Priestly Demolition tackles pedestrian bridge removal with help from a Link-Belt RTC

Priestly Demolition has built an impressive reputation for quickly demolishing bridges.

The King, Ontario-based company’s fleet of excavators have chewed through bridges that cross Ontario’s 400-series highways, rail lines and most recently, the Gardiner Expressway eastbound ramp in Toronto.

“We’ve built a division of bridge work and we do a lot of bridges. Most of them are more about logistics and moving and assembling 50-to-80-ton excavators,” said Mike Glavin, general superintendent for Priestly Demolition (PDI). “It’s having a Saturday night at the bridge, and by Sunday morning, that bridge is gone.”

While excavators are usually the stars of the show, the company’s cranes also play a role in completing the job. Cranes are required assemble excavators on site, or to help remove oversized pieces of debris.