Helicopter lift takes beams for ride to Mart roof

6-May-13 – (Left) N4247V was back over the Chicago River on Sunday. The Sikorsky S-58T twin-turbine helicopter spent most of the day picking up 184 steel beams from a barge in front of Merchandise Mart and taking them to the Mart’s roof. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

According to Jim Triggs, chief pilot for Midwest Helicopter Airways, the project was for Merchandise Mart, not the nearby renovation of the Wells Street Bridge. Triggs flew most of the day and Randy McCormick flew one rotation. The Chicago River was not closed but a tugboat with emergency lights kept traffic away from the barge.

On March 4, 2012, the same helicopter, piloted by Triggs, lifted 17 steel beams to the roof of the 27-story theWit hotel. On April 15, 2012, it helped take down each letter in the Unitrin sign on the north and south sides of One East Wacker Drive. One week later, it helped lower into place each letter of the new Kemper signs near the top of the 525-foot building.

In 2010, the helicopter delivered camera gear to the roof of 35 East Wacker Drive during filming of Transformers 3.

(Right) Three workers on the barge wrangle a steel beam into place so the helicopter can lift it. The Sikorsky S-58T can lift up to 4,500 pounds and fly as fast as 125 miles per hour. Midwest has owned it since the 1980s.

Related stories:

• Beam me up!
• Familiar beacon leaves the Loop
• And that is how you spell “Kemper”