June 29, 2005 -- Wrecking Corporation of America, the subcontractor for the December 18 implosion of the old Washington DC Convention Center, announced today that all work on the site has been completed.
“ After it was all said and done, we recycled a little over 12,000 gross tons of steel, crushed 50,000 to 60,000 cubic yards of concrete and land filled only 350 dumpster loads of C&D (construction and demolition) wast... ”
Wrecking Corp. started preparing for the implosion of the 800,000-square-foot building in October 2004, beginning with stripping the building of seats, architectural finishes and loose contents. The next step was one month of structural modifications to the structure itself to facilitate the implosion, a week to load the explosives, and 20 seconds to put the building on the ground. The 7:30 am implosion, which was watched by crowds of people standing outside the fenced area, was followed by six months of processing and debris removal.
“The last step in the demolition process is the final grading, which was completed this month,” said Terry Anderson, EVP, Wrecking Corporation of America “One of the challenges we faced in completing this project was the removal of massive foundations that had to be reduced to an aggregate-sized product of four inches and less. This material was used for fill to provide the sub-grade of the new parking lot. To accomplish this we set up a crushing and screening plant on site to process the large quantity of concrete and masonry. For a couple of months we had the only crushing plant in downtown DC.”
The employees of Boston Properties, which occupies the 901 New York Avenue Building immediately north of the site, had a bird’s-eye view of the ongoing debris clean-up phase of the project. “We were amazed; it was a well organized and efficient site. It seemed that nothing went to waste,” said Jack Burkhart, Vice President of Land Development for Boston Properties.
“After it was all said and done, we recycled a little over 12,000 gross tons of steel, crushed 50,000 to 60,000 cubic yards of concrete and land filled only 350 dumpster loads of C&D (construction and demolition) waste,” Anderson said.
About Wrecking Corporation of America
Wrecking Corporation of America took down its first downtown DC building 30 years ago. Headquartered in Alexandria, VA, Wrecking Corp. has worked on a number of high-profile projects downtown and in the surrounding metropolitan areas, including the George Washington Hospital and the Former Washington Convention Center. Wrecking Corp. specializes in the challenges of demolishing high-profile commercial projects and cramped urban sites as well as sprawling multi-building complexes. For more information, visit the Wrecking Corp. web site at www.wreckingcorp.com or call 703.823.3850.
For more information:
Rosanne Desmone, Mount Vernon PR & Communications
703.799.8165 (o)
703.946.3820 (c)
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