Facade Inspection Macy’s - 5-Night Inspection
How to Inspect The World’s Largest Department Store Facade in Just Five Nights
What was the challenge?
Macy's Herald Square is the largest department store in the world, operating for over 100 years. Opened in 1902, this is Macy’s flagship store as well as its HQ. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the world's largest parade, takes place annually on Thanksgiving Day and ends at Macy's Herald Square. Macy’s building takes up an entire NYC block between the 6th and 7th avenues and W34th and W35th streets with a whopping street frontage of about 1900 ft.
Macy’s Herald Square building is one of the most challenging buildings to inspect in New York City. The building features 2.5-million square feet and a Palladian facade adorned with thousands of decorative ornaments. It is located on some of the busiest streets, where street work permits are given for nighttime work only.
The store’s front entrance is permanently blocked from traffic by a pedestrian zone protected by bollards, making it impossible to squeeze in most trailers and lifts.
Our regular client, a global architectural and engineering firm, was looking for a quickly-moving boom lift that could reach up to 300 ft in height to access the facade up and over the cornices, setbacks, and mezzanines.
What was the solution?
What was the outcome?
Two inspectors completed the project in just 5 nights. It would have taken inspectors nearly a month to complete the same job with conventional lifts. These incredible time savings are possible because our lift cage continuously moved the boom along the facade, covering thousands of square feet in a single motion, without moving the truck.
We used the A-300 on the sides of the building that required extreme reach (newer construction). We deployed a smaller, less expensive A-230, a 230-ft “Giraffe” lift, to inspect the original 11-story facade sides where extreme reach was unnecessary.
- 12-foot extra large cage
- 1,168 lbs lifting capacity for crew, equipment, and materials
- Cage rotation 2 x 84°
- Side reach up to 106 feet
- Unique "under and up" or "up and over and back" access
- Smooth controlled motions to move close to and around glass and fragile structures
- Jib length 31’6’’
- Parking in tight spaces 8’6’’ wide
Alpha Platforms has helped hundreds of teams like yours
Customer Testimonials
from Case Studies
Great experience! First time on the 300 foot boom for a Local Law Facade Inspection. Vadim, the operator, was in complete control of the equipment and made the whole process smooth. Flagmen secured the area below and allowed my Client to operate their hotel without any disturbance. Honorio Designs Architecture, PLLC
Excellent service, arriving on time every day, responsible with the load limit, very attentive to the lubrication and controls of the crane.
Excellent team working with us, always willing to do anything for the best
It was a pleasure to work with Alpha Platforms, the crew was skilled and helpful, the equipment was top-notch. Our installers appreciated the security of the platform vs working off of a swing stage, it made their job easier and more efficient. From the first meeting thru to the end of the work day everything ran as smoothly as it could. We will definitely be partnering with Alpha Platforms on future projects. Thank you for your help!
I had an emergency project on a 140' high voltage tower and needed Alpha Platforms next day. They were so helpful and expedient walking me through the entire process so I was comfortable with the deal. They showed up to my site next day and cut about 2 days off of the project due to the safety, speed and efficiency of their lift and operators. I'll never rent or hire another lift company. I would recommend Alpha platforms for all your high reach needs.
Jon told me that it was a pleasure to work with Alpha Platforms, the crew was skilled and helpful, the equipment was top notch. Our installers appreciated the security of the platform vs working off of a swing stage, it made their job easier and more efficient. From first meeting thru to the end of the work day everything ran as smoothly as it could. City Sign Service, Inc. will definitely be partnering with Alpha Platforms on future projects.
That is a fine piece of equipment! And the competent, professional group that goes along with it is just the cherry on top. I really appreciate everything. I'm sure we'll be able to use Alpha again in the future as we get these opportunities. In fact, it will only help our business knowing we have a safe, reliable solution to these over 50‘ height challenges.
We had an exceptional experience with Alpha! They are professionals, great operator team. Overall reliable, recommended will certainly return for my future needs hands down.
My company used alpha lifts to clean a 14 floor building and they were great. Very accommodating, always on time, and will work with you to get the job done safe and sound. The lifts they provide are state of the art and can pretty much reach any low rise building under 250 feet. I’d recommend them to anyone doing window cleaning or facade cleaning, or anything king of height access work!
We wanted to give it a try and see what this boom truck could do. We loved the idea of a wide basket that could reach up to 30 feet and get to the brick wall over the roof. The main reason we loved the truck was how it maneuvered the boom to lower the bricks inside a dumpster, which was located behind the truck. It saved us at least one extra day of work. It all went great.
Alpha has the most efficient and leanest site setup time I’ve ever seen. My brother, who is the top climber of our group, first struggled to understand how this cage could go around the tower better than the crane - and when it did the whole 360°, he became a believer. Also, each laborer said how incredibly safe they felt - very different from the small crane basket. We were able to secure and push back the panels in place without the basket ever moving.
The project was performed successfully, and we were really glad to have contactless means of reaching the building, as we all know that pipe scaffold might damage the structure, in this case, very very sensitive.
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