Volvos Deftly Demolish School Sandwiched in Tight Spot

Titan Wrecking & Environmental LLC, is making quick work of a demolition of portions of a high school in York, PA, due to two Volvo excavators provided by Highway Equipment & Supply Co., of Harrisburg. It is delicate work, according to Rocky Hines, operations manager for the Buffalo, NY-based company. &#8220;It&#8217;s a surgical demolition of a four-story masonry building that is sandwiched between two existing buildings,&#8221; said Hines. &#8220;The project site is situated in close proximity to overhead electric lines and inner-city streets, right across from a Catholic Church.&#8221; The middle portion of the high school is being torn down due to structural collapse. Titan has to tear down the 400-ft. (122 m) long structure, made of masonry, block, steel and wood, while leaving the other parts of the &#8220;sandwich&#8221; intact. It is part of a bigger project, according to Les Barno of Quandel Group Inc., of Harrisburg, project manager. After Titan finishes its work, the school will be rebuilt and renovated. The demolition work is expected to be completed by Nov. 1. After site preparation, construction on the new school will begin by May 1, 2003, with completion slated for 2006. It took approximately two weeks for the three-man crew from Titan to make the separations, but after that, the building came down relatively easy, due to the Volvos. Highway Equipment & Supply provided a 100,000-lb. (45,359 kg) Volvo EC460 excavator and an 80,000-lb. (36,287 kg) Volvo EC360 excavator and an Allied demolition grapple. &#8220;The Volvos worked out good, very good,&#8221; said John Spaich of Titan. &#8220;They are outstanding.&#8221; Spaich said that he&#8217;s always interested in trying something new. &#8220;We are looking to buy some new equipment and we wanted to try some out. We had heard some good things about Volvo and decided to give it a try. The excavators were definitely strong enough for what needed to be done here,&#8221; said Spaich. Hines agreed with Spaich&#8217;s on-the-job assessment of the equipment. &#8220;Cost effectiveness is a big consideration for us these days. The machines are priced pretty decently. We have been looking at updating our entire fleet. We decided, this year, to try out a bunch of different kinds and see which ones the guys prefer,&#8221; said Hines. He said they went with Highway Equipment & Supply because it offered the widest selection. &#8220;It was the Volvos turn. We had difficulty getting that large an iron from other dealers. We needed 100,000 lbs. and they are few and far between when it comes to renting. But, Highway Equipment & Supply had one,&#8221; Hines said. Mike Kempf, salesman for Highway Equipment & Supply, said this was his first time working with Titan. &#8220;We decided to stock the 100,000-lb. machine because we knew that someone would have a need for it. We have had calls for demos, rentals and purchases. It pays off to have an extensive line of iron,&#8221; Kempf said. Highway Equipment & Supply Company was established in Harrisburg in 1942, and sold small equipment such as concrete mixers, water pumps and air tools as well as large Lima cranes and shovels. As the company grew, it has added branch offices in Drums and Lititz. Its corporate offices are located at 4500 Paxton St.. Highway Equipment & Supply Company serves the construction, mining, quarry, municipal and industrial sectors as a full-service dealer, offering parts, service and supplies for the following manufacturers: Volvo, Gradall, Euclid, E.D. Etnyre, Kolberg Pioneer, Magnum, Finlay, Rogers Brothers and Allied. The excavator is big, but it is easy to work with. It has a 36-ft. (11 m) reach and the Volvo Quick-Attach which allows for easy removal of the bucket from inside the cab. &#8220;It might be 100,000 lbs., but it is still small enough to carry in one piece. There is no need to disassemble it. We didn&#8217;t have to break it down or tear it down. We could transport it as is, That was a big plus. It&#8217;s not a wide load, which can be a transportation or logistical nightmare. There was no need to take the tracks off,&#8221; Hines explained. Not only were the Volvos easy to work with, they were easy to handle, said Hines. &#8220;When it comes to wrecking, comfort is important to us. With wrecking there is a lot of bouncing around. Our operators can get beat up pretty good when working. If our operators are comfortable, they work better. Volvos are definitely a comfortable machine,&#8221; Hines said. Spaich agreed that the excavators were very operator-friendly. &#8220;Originally, I was skeptical when I heard we were going to use Volvos, but they worked out nice. They are really comfortable. The Volvos didn&#8217;t beat you up. The seats are more comfortable and the air-suspension helps. They are a lot like riding in a car,&#8221; he said. They might ride easy, but they work hard, Spaich said. &#8220;The controls on the Volvo are real tight. It is not a sluggish machine at all. They have a good response,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I&#8217;d like to use this equipment on our next job.&#8221; The building might have given them some trouble, but not the Volvos, said Spaich. One of the biggest problems Spaich encountered on the job was styrofoam insulation that had to be removed manually so it would not contaminate any landfills. &#8220;The insulation was 2 to 4 in. thick and covered the entire roof. We had to bring in 28 guys with jackhammers to knock off the styrofoam,&#8221; said Spaich. Other than that, it was a hassle-free job. &#8220;The building came apart a lot easier than we thought. It was a thing of beauty to watch it all come down. We thought we might need a hammer because of the concrete, but the concrete was gray &#8212; rotted, not green &#8212; so it was easy,&#8221; he said. He said the crew took between seven and 10 truckloads of debris to the landfill on a daily basis and also had to truck in their own water to wet down the job to keep down the dust. Titan Wrecking and Environmental LLC is a full service demolition, remediation and environmental contractor that performs work throughout the eastern United States. Its field staff is fully trained as required by OSHA and DOT standards for work on hazardous waste sites, confined space entry and excavation safety. The firm, which has been in operation for more than 25 years, has expertise in mass building and surgical demolition, hazardous materials abatement, industrial facility decommissioning, soil and groundwater remediation, tank closure and remediation. This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.