It took only hours for a single excavator to level the McDonald’s at 1512 S. 11th St. on Tuesday to make way for a new restaurant.

The building, which preceded all fast-food restaurants currently active in Nebraska City, was constructed 30 years ago.

As former employees, store owners and customers watched the building come down, some calculated how many Big Macs were sold at the location.

The restaurant orders about 140 cases of meat patties for the famous sandwich per month and there are 382 patties per case. At that rate, the restaurant would have served 19 million.

Erin Barr, a restaurant co-owner, said work on the new restaurant is expected to begin in a couple of weeks. He hopes to begin serving the next 19 million hamburgers by the end of October.