Forward Progress

THE FINAL BUZZER A & R Demolition, Del Valle, Texas, spent late 2009 and early 2010 demolishing the former Dallas Reunion Arena, long-time home of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks. A & R Demolition won the bid from start to finish. Raymond and Andrea Reveile, co-owners of the company, stayed true to their “green” principles and made plans to recycle the maximum amount of the resulting materials. A & R consulted with Charlie Hayes, a sales engineer with T-K-O Equipment Co., the Grand Prairie, Texas-based dealer for KPI-JCI, Yankton, S.D. Hayes recommended the rental of a KPI-JCI FT4250 track-mounted horizontal impact crushing plant specifically designed for the recycling of concrete and asphalt. The mobile plant combines a crusher and a screen in a closed-circuit configuration, designed to produce a final product in one pass. A & R was able to process as it was demolishing the arena, with the use of a multi-processor attachment mounted on an excavator. The multi-processor would process material from six-foot slabs down to two-foot-minus chunks. Upon the creation of a considerable enough stockpile that began taking up space, the mobile crusher was brought in. —Sidebar provided by  KPI-JCI, Yankton, S.D.

Andrea and Raymond Reveile, co-owners of A&R Demolition.

Andrea and Raymond Reveile started A & R Demolition in Del Valle, Texas (near Austin), in the early 1990s “from the ground up,” hauling debris from other contractors’ sites and beginning with modest demolition jobs of small structures such as residential garages. “

It was hands-on work and a step-by-step process,” says Andrea of the journey that has seen A & R advance from humble origins to some of the highest profile demolition projects in the Lone Star State.

In 2009 and 2010, A & R grabbed the spotlight in the Dallas area with its demolition work on two landmark sports facilities: Reunion Arena and Texas Stadium—the long-time and almost legendary home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Despite these high-profile accomplishments, Raymond says the more modest qualities that built A & R Demolition have very much remained in place. “This is a family-owned and family-run business,” he comments. “We’re family-oriented in a lot of the ways we operate.”
 

AHEAD OF THE CURVE
The roots of A & R as haulers of demolition debris has likely provided one of its advantages in the form of knowledge of where and how to recycle materials in its operating regions.

“Recycling has always been a part of our business from day one—it’s always been a key ingredient,” says Raymond.

As the company has grown and taken on larger structures, it has also increased its ability to recycle the resulting materials. “We’re at an 80 percent recycling rate on average right now, and we’re working to get it to 90 percent of materials recycled—and that’s by weight, not volume,” says Raymond.

The company has always paid attention to recycling metals and it has increased its ability to maximize concrete and asphalt recycling by using portable crushing units at job sites.

A & R Demolition also has taken steps to recycle materials that may require a little more concerted effort. “We have a contract in place with Armstrong at one current job to recycle the ceiling tiles,” notes Raymond.

Leading up to the Texas Stadium project, A & R was involved in several large projects that allowed it to build up its demolition and recycling experience, including the demolition of a college campus (Concordia University in Austin) and of Reunion Arena (see “The Final Buzzer” sidebar on page 25).

Another campus project involved demolition work at Paul Quinn College in Dallas, an historically African-American college founded in 1872.

The Texas Stadium project has allowed A & R to implement several recycling techniques, both before and after the implosion took place. “The implosion was April 11, but the ‘soft demo’ work had started long before that,” says Raymond. “That work included abatement, recycling copper and aluminum wires and conduit and stainless steel sinks, and recovering mechanical equipment and fixtures that could be salvaged.”

After the nationally televised implosion, “the real work of recycling started,” says Raymond. A mobile crusher, excavators and skid steers were brought on site to sort and process 200,000 tons of concrete and structural steel.
 

KEY ALLIANCES
As A & R Demolition has worked its way up from smaller residential projects to demolishing and recycling one of the nation’s landmark sporting venues, both Andrea and Raymond are quick to say they have not done it alone. “Without everyone’s team effort we could not be the company we are today,” says Andrea.

“We now have about 110 people, including people in the asbestos abatement and the site work (earth moving) division,” notes Raymond. In addition to adding staff in Del Valle, the company also opened a location in Dallas as it increased its presence in that region.

The Texas Stadium project entailed full-time (or often overtime) efforts by some 45 employees, says Andrea. “We want to give a special thanks to our superintendent at the Stadium site, Terry Tejada. He worked long hours and kept the project on schedule and has kept our crews safe,” she comments.

Among the other companies and vendors that took part were Weir Brothers, based in Irving, Texas, the general contractor for the project. Weir Brothers tackled the backfill and grading of the land at the stadium site.

Raymond also cites Dykon Blasting Corp., Tulsa, Okla., for its work as the implosion subcontractor; Gamtex Industries (formerly Gachman Metals and Recycling), Fort Worth, Texas, for scrap recycling services; equipment dealer Four Seasons Equipment for its reliability in providing Hyundai excavators and other equipment for the massive project; and Flame Technologies, Cedar Park, Texas, for its scrap-cutting torches.

Andrea and Raymond say the project required a lot of effort and also stirred up sentimental feelings for many involved, including Raymond, who grew up as a devoted Dallas Cowboys fan.

The Texas Stadium project also allowed Andrea and Raymond to reflect upon how far they have come in 17 years as business owners. “I don’t think it ever occurred to us that we would go from taking down a garage to an arena and then Texas Stadium,” says Raymond. “Andrea and I are both competitive by nature and knew we could build a good company, but I don’t think we ever envisioned ourselves taking down Texas Stadium.”

“What we really learned with the Texas Stadium project was the value of having good people to work with,” says Raymond. “We’ve known that all along, but we found out just how good and talented they are with this project.”