Scrap Iron: Reported United States aggregated spot market prices per gross ton shown for each commodity are based on all Management Science Associates’ (MSA) Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) participants’ actual order data submitted to and processed by MSA as of the 20th of each respective “buy month,” rounded to the whole integer. A map of RMDAS regions is available at http://rmdas.msa.com, as is a further explanation of RMDAS methodology and an accompanying disclaimer.

No. 1 HMS defined as prepared obsolete scrap, 5 feet long and under. Additional pricing information on each grade can be found at www.RecyclingToday.com.

© 2019-2020 Management Science Associates Inc. All rights reserved RMDAS is a trademark of Management Science Associates Inc.

Copper - LME Pricing: Source: London Metal Exchange, www.lme.com

Aluminum - LME Pricing: Source: London Metal Exchange, www.lme.com

Stone and Aggregate Pricing: *Index is based on 1982 average price as 100 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Wood Scrap: Source: Forisk Wood Fiber Review; detailed pricing and market analysis for regions in the U.S. and Canada available by subscription at www.forisk.com.

The Illinois Tollway Oases have been providing much-needed respite for road-weary travelers since the first five of these commercialized rest areas were constructed in 1959. The state added two more Oases in 1968 and 1975, respectively, to offer food, gas and a place to stretch for motorists traveling across Illinois’ interstate highways.

But when the Illinois Tollway made the decision in April 2017 to expand the Move Illinois capital program and advance a $4 billion concept to improve the Central Tri-State Tollway for the more than 220,000 vehicles that use this portion of the highway daily, several of these structures had to be demolished to expand lane capacity and reduce congestion.

Alpine Demolition Services, St. Charles, Illinois, was first awarded the contract to demo the Des Plaines Oasis in 2014. After Chicago-based F.H. Paschen was selected as the general contractor overseeing the demolition of the O’Hare Oasis in 2018, Alpine was a logical choice to serve as a demolition subcontractor due to its familiarity with the project requirements and overall expertise.

“Alpine was chosen based on price, safety record and past experience,” Karsten Pawlik, VP of operations at Alpine, says. “Alpine successfully removed the Des Plaines Oasis, which was the identical structure to the O’Hare Oasis. The advantage of performing the Des Plaines Oasis was that Alpine had a proven plan, great safety record and production history on this type of structure. It gave the owner confidence that Alpine would be safe and successful on this project. Alpine was able to learn lessons from the Des Plaines project to become more efficient on the O’Hare Oasis demolition. Also, Alpine is a certified disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE), which helped meet diversification requirements for the project.”

Planning and tackling the job

Pawlik says that despite having familiarity with the project due to its previous work with the Des Plaines Oasis, Alpine undertook significant planning measures to ensure the O’Hare demolition would be a success.

After reviewing the plans and specifications, Alpine’s project management team conducted site visits while the project’s structural engineer, Indianapolis-based American Structurepoint, verified that the field conditions matched the plans provided and that there wasn’t any existing structural damage that needed to be considered. Following these inspections, a crane lift plan was crafted for the beam removal of the overpass, and once the demolition plan was formalized, it was checked by the structural engineer to make sure the structure would remain stable during the demolition process. After American Structurepoint did the calculations for the removal, the entire plan was submitted to the Illinois Tollway for approval, which it was granted in short order.

Following the completion of environmental surveys and asbestos abatement, Alpine located, disconnected and rerouted all utilities. Next, there were utility lines feeding an on-site gas station that was to remain that had to be removed, Pawlik says. Alpine then installed plywood and protective tarps under the overpass structure to prevent material from dropping to the roadway below.

According to Pawlik, the O’Hare Oasis project took special consideration because of its construction.

“This is a very unique structure, one of a handful of its kind, combining both a building and a bridge,” Pawlik says. “The most important part of the demolition strategy was to use a method that protected the traffic below. A demolition plan stamped by [American Structurepoint] was developed and followed in the demolition process. Wind loads, floor loads and structural stability of the remaining structure during the different stages of demolition were accounted for in the demolition plan. The structure had to be dismantled in a manner so that nothing was dropped on the roadway and all the material being removed had to be lifted down from the site.”

Pawlik says that maintaining traffic on the roadway and ensuring the safety of the passing motorists was of paramount importance to Alpine. Alpine planned work so that no demolition would be performed over live traffic, and the Illinois Tollway set times when lanes could be closed off at peak hours. Lane closure requests had to be made to Illinois Tollway and were never guaranteed based on other construction projects being performed. The lane closures, therefore, dictated the schedule and the process of the demolition sequence. Nighttime closures primarily were utilized to perform work over the roadway. Pawlik says that only 15-minute closures were allowed in the middle of low-traffic hours, and full closures had to be coordinated far in advance to get approval from the Illinois Tollway and to notify the public.

Pawlik says that Alpine used selective demolition techniques to remove the bridge-related components of the Oasis building, but that regular top-down building demolition techniques were utilized for parts of the Oasis not over the highway.

Some of the stages of the demolition included:

• Walls of the structure were left when possible to contain demolition material, and the interior was stripped of soft finishes.
• The roof was removed followed by the steel joists.
• The glass curtain wall was removed followed by the steel trusses.
• The concrete deck was saw cut and removed by “slabbing.” Once the deck was removed, the buildings and walls were removed in back of the abutments in preparation of the beam picks.
• A date was requested for 15-minute full closures of the highway to remove the beams. A crane was mobilized and beams were removed under the full closure windows.
• After the beams were removed from the site, the abutments on each side were removed.
• The general contractor restored the slopes after demolition was complete.

In the field, Alpine was proactive in reviewing the demolition plans with every member of the field team prior to each stage of the demolition. Alpine’s project management team would also check the team’s daily progress to make sure the plan was being followed. According to Pawlik, this oversight helped keep the project on track.

Pawlik says that Alpine utilized a range of equipment on the project, including two Caterpillar 349s, two Caterpillar 329s and one Caterpillar 305 excavator outfitted with various LaBounty tools. They also used four skid steers, one mini excavator and various other miscellaneous equipment for the demolition. A 500-ton crane was also used to remove the concrete beams over the roadway.

According to plan

Pawlik says that the project, which was started in October 2018, was completed in April 2019. Alpine’s crew of 12 was able to complete the project ahead of schedule and with no injuries to staff or motorists. While the job went off without a hitch, Pawlik says that the company had to overcome several notable challenges, including removing a building and bridge structure over one of the busiest highway corridors in the country, dealing with a structure that had load limitations on what size equipment could be used, and managing concrete beams that had an asbestos coating and required extra due diligence.

Pawlik says that Alpine’s diverse areas of expertise made the company uniquely qualified to handle these challenges and the other multifaceted requirements of this project.

“Most demolition companies specialize in one method. Alpine Demolition being one of the most versatile Chicagoland demolition contractors in all methods of demolitions made us best-suited for this kind of project,” he says. “When a good plan and a great team work together, projects will be successful.”

In all, the project yielded 6,000 tons of concrete and 500 tons of steel. The concrete was sent to local concrete recyclers for road construction while the metal was sent to local scrapyards. According to Alpine, 96 percent of materials from the O’Hare Oasis were ultimately recycled.

Thanks to Alpine’s emphasis on recycling, safety, project management and timeliness, the O’Hare Oasis demolition garnered the company the National Demolition Association’s Excellence in Demolition Award for projects in the $500,001 to $2 million category—an honor which Pawlik says is a significant accomplishment for the company.

“It is a great honor to win this award from the industry,” he says. “There were a lot of other great projects that we competed against, and it made me very proud of our team for coming out on top. It is nice to be recognized for all the hard work that is put into our projects.”

The author is the editor of Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be contacted at aredling@gie.net.

Husqvarna Construction Products was excited to support and participate in the Live Demolition event at NDA yet again this year. Husqvarna had both an indoor and outdoor booth to showcase not only demolition robots such as the DXR 270 and DXR 300, but also a selection of our power cutters, wall saws and diamond tooling.

Many show attendees were able to try out the demolition robots and were impressed by the power, precision and response of the machines. Specifically, contractors noted the feel the remote control was able to give them. All Husqvarna remote demolition machines are controlled by a Bluetooth™ remote control that controls everything the machine does, simply and conveniently due to the responsive joysticks, easy-to-read 3.5” color display, and ergonomic harness.

In addition to the booths, Husqvarna was honored to participate in the Superintendent Training Course on Saturday morning. The training covered handheld power cutters, selecting the right diamond tool for the application as well as safety training. Husqvarna has been a manufacturer of power cutters and diamond tools for decades—something that surprised attendees. Power cutters and diamond tools are very common on job sites, and the importance of pairing the right equipment with the right diamond tool for the application to increase operator efficiency and safety was a key takeaway for the group.

Husqvarna is excited and proud to be a member of the NDA and to partner with the association on product knowledge, expertise and continuous training. See you next year!

Specs on DXR 300

• Power, hp (kW): 30 (22)
• Voltage, V: 480
• Weight, lbs (kg): 4,321 (1,960)
• Reach^*, ft (m): 17 (5.2)

^*reach measured on machine with breaker SB 202, from center of rotation to tip of breaker, with machine’s arm at maximum extension, in horizontal position.

https://www.husqvarnacp.com/us/contact-us/

If it’s true that there is no substitute for experience, it is easy to see why the National Demolition Association’s (NDA’s) Live Demolition event has continued to gain popularity among contractors. The Live Demolition, which took place at Demolition Austin Feb. 23 as part of the association’s annual conference, has grown from 15 participating exhibitors demonstrating 18 pieces of equipment in 2018 to 20 exhibitors demonstrating 30 pieces of equipment in 2020. Along the way, it has become a must-attend event for contractors interested in testing and buying some of the industry’s latest tools and equipment.

Unlike at most conferences, the Live Demolition offers contractors a chance to see, touch and operate excavators, pulverizers, grapples, shears and other pieces of equipment in real world applications. By being able to test and compare equipment side by side, contractors can make more informed decisions while also having a chance to connect with product specialists able to answer their specific questions on various pieces of equipment.

Setting the stage

The NDA’s selection of Austin for its annual show this year set the stage for a return to Texas Disposal Systems’ (TDS’) Exotic Game Ranch in nearby Buda, Texas. The 1,175-acre site, which hosts an exotic animal refuge, landfill and recycling facilities, played host to the first Live Demolition event two years ago.

Thanks to its on-site metals and concrete recycling facilities, as well as NDA’s Convention Committee’s familiarity with the site, a return to the original location just made sense, says former NDA convention committee chair Tim Ramon, who helped organize this year’s session.

“I was involved in 2018 with the Live Demolition when we first organized this with TDS,” Ramon says. “TDS and their principals had a good idea of what we were expecting out of the event since we did this previously. We had a really good idea of what TDS was capable of and what their facilities offered in terms of amenities and benefits, so it was a lot easier working together this year.”

One variable that created some uncertainties centered around the concrete and metal scrap that TDS would be able to provide for processing at the event. TDS agreed to set aside incoming metal and concrete prior to the Live Demolition rather than recycle it themselves outright. While TDS was able to set aside the requisite 500 to 600 tons of steel needed for equipment to shear at the event, show organizers realized there was hardly any concrete when they arrived on-site a couple days before the show.

With the Live Demolition just days away, NDA’s committee members sprung into action, bringing in roughly 3,000 cubic yards of unprocessed, oversized concrete in just a matter of hours.

“Collaboratively and collectively, we were able to source that concrete from four different locations. It’s not something you just go to Home Depot and pick up,” Ramon says.

“We showed up Thursday morning [of the show] and we quickly came to the realization that we didn’t have any concrete, and we had concrete on the ground close of business Friday and ready for the Live Demolition event Saturday morning. That is a testament to [the NDA team] for not only making the necessary calls to get the material, but persuading their contacts to actually bring us what we needed in such a small window,” Scott Laird, chairperson of NDA’s Convention Committee, says.

In addition to the last-minute sourcing of concrete, NDA had to contend with the challenge of physically getting the equipment set up in the days leading up to the event. With the majority of the setup taking place in the two days prior to the Live Demolition, exceptional coordination was needed to direct the rush of incoming machinery.

“This event grew over 25 percent just from the previous year in terms of equipment. We had over 30 pieces of heavy equipment, which means 30 lowboy trailers and tractor trailer rigs coming into the site and offloading inside of a two-day period—most of them coming in within a day of each other. The site looked like a beehive with bees buzzing in all sorts of different directions, trucks coming in, materials getting dumped, so it was quite chaotic,” Ramon says.

Going off without a hitch

Despite some of the challenges, NDA’s committee members and volunteers managed to have everything in place by the time the event rolled around for the program’s 554 attendees.

The vendors, made up of the who’s who of demolition equipment manufacturers, included Arden Equipment, Brokk Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Company Wrench, Ecovolve, Epiroc, Genesis Attachments, Husqvarna Construction Products, Kobelco Construction Machinery USA, Komatsu America Corp., LaBounty, Liebherr, Link-Belt Excavators, LiuGong, Okada America Inc., OilQuick USA/ShearCore, Sennebogen LLC, Steelwrist Inc., and Volvo Construction Equipment.

Although like in years’ past, vendors were separated by type of equipment, this year’s show allowed more flexibility in terms of how equipment was run. At previous shows, operators had a specific equipment runtime allotted that they couldn’t deviate from. At Demolition Austin, attendees were given leeway to run machines for as long, or as little, as they wanted.

“In past years, we put a lot of effort in structuring when and how the attendees would operate the equipment or interact with the vendor. And this year, we changed it around,” Ramon says. “Our vendors are very competent and very knowledgeable, so we allowed each station and each vendor to regulate the time and the way that the attendee interacted with, and operated, that piece of equipment—that helped out a lot. It gave the event a lot more of a free-flowing feel.”

In addition to allowing more freedom for contractors to operate equipment how they wanted, this year’s Live Demolition event incorporated on-site training for interested parties. Through NDA’s Demolition Superintendent Bootcamp, professionals were able to follow up a day of classroom instruction with a day of job site management training focused on planning, communication, people management, safety and job wrap-up best practices.

With a range of equipment available to try, on-site training and the chance to engage with industry peers all in one centralized location, NDA hopes that the association can continue to make the Live Demolition a valuable event for attendees of the association’s future conventions.

“[NDA’s convention committee] wanted to make these an event where someone wouldn’t just come out for an hour or two to run a piece of equipment, we wanted to make them an event where people could come out and make a day of it,” Laird says. “I think we did that. I saw a lot of people who showed up at 9 a.m. who were still there at 2 or 3 p.m., so I think our goal moving forward is to continue to push this event to make it where people want to stay, test out equipment, talk to vendors and enjoy the whole day.”

Demolition New Orleans is scheduled for March 4-7, 2021, and the NDA says it is working to finalize plans for a Live Demolition event that is bigger and more interactive than ever before.