NEW ORLEANS — A large piece of the damaged crane resting on top of the Hard Rock collapse site has been removed.
Video taken on Canal Street shows a large piece of the demolished crane being lowered to the ground.
That crane was knocked down with explosives last October, but has continued to loom over Canal Street ever since.
Once the entire crane is removed, the City will begin the recovery of Jose Ponce Arreola and Quinnton Wimberly, whose remains have been trapped inside the rubble since the construction site collapsed.
The city expects that process to begin Monday.
“(NOFD) Chief (Tim) McConnell has informed me it takes about four to five days usually,” Tidwell said earlier this week. “That would be the anticipation.”
After that, cranes will pick apart the top eight floors of the building.
The demolition is expected to cost $8.4 million. 1031 Canal Development, the Hard Rock’s owner, is paying for the demolition work. The ultimate goal is to have the site entirely clear by October, a year after the deadly collapse.
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