Under the Gun

Following months of preparation and environmental cleanup, the surgical demolition of the former Ithaca Gun factory on Lake Street in Ithaca, N.Y., is nearing completion.

According to a news release from Bianchi Industrial Services, a national demolition company based in Syracuse, N.Y., so far the company has focused on remediation, demolition, and materials recycling at the site in the first five months of 2009.

During that time, Bianchi says it has taken every precaution to ensure the orderly demolition of the structures and preparation of the property for its next use.

“Safety is the most important part of anything we do,” says David Bianchi, managing partner of Bianchi. “We work hard to ensure that every employee returns home safely to their families, and that the public is protected during our operations.”

The Ithaca Gun project has been anything but simple, but Bianchi says its efforts have laid the groundwork for redevelopment of the site in the months ahead. Significant preparation work was required to abate asbestos, control dust, and ensure that things that were not supposed to be on site were properly removed. That has included an old car found in the factory’s basement. Now, the work is nearing completion, and crews expect to be finishing up on the site within the next month.

Working in complicated settings and around hazardous materials is a honed skill for David Bianchi, who along with his brother Bill Bianchi manages projects all over the United States. “This project had its unique challenges,” says Bill Bianchi. “They all do – that’s what makes us different from other demolition contractors. We work best under the most complicated of circumstances.”

Bianchi Industrial Services was recently ranked 38th among demolition contractors worldwide by one trade magazine. The company has also been recognized as one of the “Top 200” environmental firms by Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine.

Originally established in 1950 as a local demolition company, Bianchi Industrial Services is a family-owned business with national reach, providing a range of environmental abatement and recycling services. The company owns a large fleet of specialty demolition equipment, including an ultra-high reach hydraulic excavator.

Bianchi has worked nationwide on large projects for chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers, power and cogeneration facilities, paper plants, aerospace facilities, warehouses, schools, retail locations, sporting arenas and hospitals. More information on the company can be found at www.bianchidemo.com.