Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures,
the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction,
which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving
valuable elements for re-use.
Before any demolition activities, there are many steps that need to
take place — including but not limited to performing asbestos abatement,
obtaining necessary permits, submitting necessary notifications,
disconnecting utilities, rodent baiting, and development of
site-specific safety and work plans.
Loaders or bulldozers may be used to demolish a building. They
are typically equipped with "rakes" (thick pieces of steel that could be
an I-beam or tube) that are used to ram building walls. Skid loaders and
loaders will also be used to take materials out and sort steel. To
control dust, fire hoses are used to maintain a wet demolition.
Deconstruction
A new approach to demolition is the deconstruction of a building with
the goal of minimizing the amount of materials going to landfills. This
"green" approach is applied by removing the materials by material
type and segregating them for reuse or recycling. With proper planning this
approach has resulted in landfill diversion rates that exceed 90% of an
entire building and its contents in some cases. With the rising costs of
landfills, this method is usually more economical than traditional
demolition, and contributes to a healthier environment.
The development of plant and equipment has allowed for the easier
segregation of waste types on site and the reuse within the construction
of the replacement building. On site crushers allow the demolished
concrete to be reused as type 1 crushed aggregate either as a piling mat
for ground stabilization or as aggregate in the mixing of concrete.
Timber waste can be shredded using specialist timber shredders and
composted, or used to form manufactured timber boards.
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Underground Utilities
The Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund reports that
“Each year, approximately 700,000 underground utility lines are struck
in excavation work, too often with lethal consequences. In 40 percent of
these excavations, no calls were made to state one-call centers to
ascertain the location of utility lines before digging began.
“A surprising amount of underground infrastructure
is needlessly destroyed because digging goes on without first securing a
map,” says LHSFNA Management Co-Chairman Noel C. Borck. “Sometimes,
workers are killed in electrocutions or explosions. This loss and
tragedy is completely preventable. All that is required is pre-planning,
patience and a phone call.” Walter Thomas & Associates does the
pre-planning, makes the phone calls, and enjoys a safety record that is
the envy of the industry.
Hazardous Waste Abatement
Federal
and State regulations are resulting in the removal of more hazardous
materials from buildings, facilities, and the environment to prevent
further contamination of natural resources and to promote public health
and safety. Hazardous materials removal workers identify, remove,
package, transport, and dispose of various hazardous materials,
including asbestos, radioactive and nuclear materials, arsenic, lead,
and mercury. Using a variety of hand and power tools, such as vacuums and
scrapers, these workers remove the asbestos and lead from surfaces. A
typical lead abatement project involves the use of a
chemical to strip the lead-based paint from the walls of the building. Lead
abatement workers apply the compound with a putty knife and allow it to
dry. Then they scrape the hazardous material into an impregnable
container for transport and storage. They also use sandblasters and
high-pressure water sprayers to remove lead from large structures. The
vacuums utilized by asbestos abatement workers have special, highly
efficient filters designed to trap the asbestos, which later is disposed
of or stored. During the abatement, special monitors measure the amount
of asbestos and lead in the air, to protect the workers; in addition,
lead abatement workers wear a personal air monitor that indicates the
amount of lead to which a worker has been exposed. Workers also use
monitoring devices to identify the asbestos, lead, and other materials
that need to be removed from the surfaces of walls and structures.
Treatment, storage, and disposal workers transport and prepare materials
for treatment or disposal. To ensure proper treatment of the materials,
laws, typically regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), require
these workers to be able to verify shipping manifests. At incinerator
facilities, treatment, storage, and disposal workers transport materials
from the customer or service center to the incinerator. At landfills,
they follow a strict procedure for the processing and storage of
hazardous materials. They organize and track the location of items in
the landfill and may help change the state of a material from liquid to
solid in preparation for its storage. These workers typically operate
heavy machinery, such as forklifts, earthmoving machinery, and large
trucks and rigs.
Hazardous materials removal workers function in a highly structured
environment to minimize the danger they face. Each phase of an operation
is planned in advance, and workers are trained to deal with safety
breaches and hazardous situations. Walter Thomas & Associates crews and supervisors take every
precaution to ensure that the worksite is safe.
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