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COVER STORY, OCTOBER 2005
BRINGING IT DOWN
Brandenburg Industrial Services' demolition of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
William Moore
Veterans Stadium, fondly known as “The Vet,” built in 1971, served as the home for both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles. The stadium was one of the last that served as a multi-sport complex. It seated more than 62,000 for baseball games and in excess of 65,000 for football games.
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Brandenburg Industrial Service Company brought down Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia in March 2004.
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The fans of Philadelphia are known for their extreme dedication to their professional sports teams and have the reputation for being quite vocal. The fans were rewarded when the gates were opened to two new state-of-the-art sports facilities. Lincoln Financial Field was completed in 2003 for the Eagles and Citizens Bank Park was completed for the Phillies' 2004 season. The need for Veterans Stadium was eliminated and stood in the way of a much needed parking lot. Brandenburg Industrial Service Company's Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, office was awarded the contract to perform the demolition of The Vet. The chosen method by the owners to demolish the stadium was to implode it. Brandenburg began preparing the stadium by performing the necessary preliminary work several months prior to the implosion date. The utilities were disconnected, capped and rerouted throughout the site. Asbestos-contaminated material was removed throughout the stadium. All seating was extracted and removed from the site. Concession stands, offices, restaurants, storage rooms and construction/ demolition debris was removed from each level of the stadium.
Large excavators were utilized to remove a large portion of the internal seating area structure leaving only the outer three column lines. This allowed the remaining structures to be imploded inward toward the center of the stadium and still allow room in the center to place a concrete crusher.
This project was very high profile and drew many concerns from the stadium's residential neighbors and adjacent existing sporting complexes. It was imperative for the work to be performed with little or no disruption to the immediate surroundings. There were several meetings held with the neighbors to address all of their questions and concerns.
The Sunday morning implosion was engineered to take a full 61 seconds for the structure to completely fall. By using smaller amounts of explosives in more locations and extending the time delay, the vibration was significantly reduced. This in turn reduced the potential for structural damage to adjacent homes and sports complexes. The shot was successful and went just as planned without incident.
The implosion left a mass of concrete debris which was processed and used as fill to level the area. Brandenburg utilized the largest known mobile crusher in the United States to assist in processing an estimated 70,000 cubic yards of concrete.
William Moore is with Brandenburg Industrial Service Company, a demolition and environmental remediation contractor with offices in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Chicago; and Detroit.
What to Consider for a Demolition
• Location is one of the most important financial aspects of demolition; it's not the zip code, but rather the type of structures surrounding the proposed site that dictate cost.
• Consider whether gravity, machine or a manual technique is necessary, and what equipment will be needed.
• Environmental concerns, like asbestos, PCBs, and lead, need to be addressed.
• Consider what items from the building can be salvaged and recycled, and how far the nearest landfill is and what disposal costs will be.
• The National Demolition Association www.demolitionassociation.com or (800) 541-2412 can provide you with a list of demolition contractors in your area.
• Ask for references. You can also request that the demolition contractor complete a Contractors Qualification Statement from the American Institute of Architects (typically referred to as the AIA305 form). Safety should also be a prime consideration. Workers' compensation insurance policies carry an Experience Modification Rating (EMR), which is also a good indicator of a contractor's attitude on safety issues within its organization. Any EMR over 1.0 is considered a surcharge; anything less than 1.0 is considered a discount. As an example, a contractor with a premium of $100,000 and an EMR of 1.50 will pay $150,000, whereas a contractor with an EMR of .50 pays only $50,000 for the same coverage.
• Ascertaining the future use of the land can help save money on the total cost. For example, grade-level slabs can be left for parking or storage; sub-grade foundation walls can be left in their entirety, be removed to just below grade level, or be removed only in the footprint of the new building. Removing only the walls and roof can usually circumvent property taxes. |
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