THE CHALLENGE:
The Allegany High School Replacement Phase I – Site Preparation project was the first stage of the overall project of building a new state of the art High School Facility that would consolidate all of the High Schools in Allegany County Maryland into a single facility. The site chosen for the new school was the former Braddock Medical Complex in Cumberland, Maryland. The complex consisted of several buildings ranging from 2-7 stories in height. The largest of the structures was the 7 story Sacred Heart Hospital building. Previously unidentified PCB caulking with concentrations in excess of 100,000 parts per million was identified within the cavity of 10” deep “tongue and groove” type exterior concrete spandrel panels at the very start of the demolition of the structure.
THE SOLUTION:
Fortunately, Total Wrecking’s experienced General Superintendent noticed the material and halted demolition immediately, thus preventing the contamination of nearly 48,000 tons of concrete that was being crushed on site for reuse. After receiving the environmental consultant’s recommendation and estimated cost of $1,500,000 the Owner, Frank Bodami tasked his environmental team to come up with a cost effective solution to this unplanned situation. Total Wrecking and Environmental’s team went to work which ultimately paid off.
THE RESULTS:
The plan put together was approved by all regulators and government agencies which enabled total to provide an end cost for under 500,000 which ultimately saved over a million dollars to the owner. This is a perfect example of “The Total Difference.”
“Total Wrecking worked diligently to complete the project within budget, with a minimum of change orders. I often sought their advice as issues were discovered throughout the demolition. An example of which is the discovery of PCB containing sealants on the exterior panels of the original building. Having experienced similar conditions on previous projects the Total Wrecking team was familiar with the federal regulations, abatement procedures, and disposal requirements. They made every effort to minimize the cost while meeting all of the governing regulations.”
Vincent Montana
Director of Facilities, Board of Education of Allegany County