NEW ORLEANS — Heavy machinery was on North Rampart Street again Thursday morning, moving giant pieces of metal and steel as easily as a child moves building blocks.
Just days ago, the rubble being cleaned up was a tower crane that has been impaled in the street since dynamite took it and the second crane on the Hard Rock down last October.
Now, work to take down the entire hotel is set to begin nearly eight months after the deadly collapse.
"Everything we've done to take this building down has been based upon safety," said Walter Zehner, an engineering consultant working with the company tearing down the building.
The demolition will happen in four phases. Phase one will begin in the coming days. The crane that hangs over Canal Street should be gone by early June.
Then, during phase two, crews should recover the bodies of two workers still trapped inside. Zehner said people should expect that to take about two weeks.
The upper floors will come down between late July and early August.
Finally, the bottom eight floors should be gone by the end of September, Zehner said.Council members were particularly concerned about the bodies.
"How do you ensure that this is done in a way that it is -- this isn't just, you know, a removal of a piece of equipment?” City Councilwoman Helena Moreno asked.
Search-and-rescue teams will handle that, Zehner pointed out. “I agree with you. It has to be done respectfully, and I think everybody is completely aware of that fact,” he said.
Streets and sidewalks will reopen as the demolition progress, Riverbound Canal should be open by late July or early August.
Lakebound Canal and the lake side of North Rampart would follow by mid-August, leaving only the river side of Rampart and the 1000 block of Iberville closed.
"That should be done probably Sept. 15 to the 30th," Zehner said.
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