SHA
examines “deconstruction” at High Point
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SEATTLE—March, 2003—Piece by piece, the public
housing building at 3220 SW Lanham Way was carefully taken apart
during the week of March 17. Piles of plywood and two by fours
neatly surrounded the site. Aluminum frame windows leaned together
against a fence. Straw was spread on paths to keep the site from
getting too muddy in the early spring rains that fell steadily all
week, as workers “deconstructed” the old building.
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Workers cleaning up for the day in
front of a partially deconstructed public housing building. |
Their work is part of a special pilot project to
explore whether it is worthwhile to deconstruct these buildings,
instead of using traditional modern demolition methods.
Deconstruction is the dismantling of a building in approximately the
reverse order that it was assembled, so that components that have
still economic value can be reused or sold. The information gained from taking
apart this one duplex will be used to evaluate
whether a more extensive deconstruction effort during the
site clearing phase of High Point’s revitalization is feasible.
Removed windows
and plywood to be recycled. |
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By the end of the
week, only the concrete foundation of the building remained.
While the building was being taken apart, workers made an
inventory of the reusable materials they took out. SHA will
now be able to estimate their market value. According to
expert Jim Primdahl, the workers have already determined that
the original two by fours are very high quality #1 grade fir,
many of which are in re-usable condition.
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According to SHA
Development Project Coordinator Thomas Nielsen, “This may
provide an opportunity to divert material from the construction demolition waste stream, put
people to work and potentially save on demolition costs.
The feasibility study will give us the data we need to evaluate
the concept.”SHA worked with several
other organizations on this project.
Jim Primdahl, from the Institute of Local Self-Reliance, worked with a trained crew from DeConstruction
Services of Portland Oregon. A local demolition contractor, J.
Harper Contractor, also worked on the project.
Why is SHA interested in
deconstruction? It can be friendlier to
the environment; plus, instead of creating demolition debris which
is expensive to dispose of, the process creates reusable materials
that can be sold. For
the owner this can turn a project cost into an asset. SHA may be able
to recycle or re-use from 60 to 80 percent of the materials.
Deconstruction
techniques can be used together with more specialized forms of
demolition. In fact, deconstruction is actually just a specialized
form of demolition. In
some ways, it reflects a return to methods used before track hoes or
wrecking cranes. One factor that may make deconstruction feasible is the depletion
of old growth timber. The small wood pieces that make up buildings
as old as those at High Point suddenly have value. In the past, that
wood was just seen as debris.
Deconstruction
and machine demolition can coexist on a jobsite. The track
hoes can follow the deconstruction and remove foundations and may
also be useful in taking roofs off buildings and dealing with
multi–story buildings where there are worker safety issues at the
upper stories.
For
more information on the High Point redevelopment,
click
here.
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