A heavy equipment operator uses a shear to move a large section of wall from the C-746-B warehouse during demolition.
An excavator, equipped with a grappler attachment, sorts through debris to be loaded into roll-off bins for disposition.
PADUCAH, Ky. – Heavy equipment operators safely demolished the first of 12 inactive facilities set for removal in coming months as part of EM’s ongoing Paducah Site cleanup.
See a video of the demolition here.
More than 500 facilities will be addressed over the life of the cleanup, 32 of which have already been demolished. Most recently, EM deactivation contractor Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project (FPDP) completed demolition of the C-746-B warehouse.
Built in the 1960s, the 72,000-square-foot warehouse stored out-of-service equipment from past operations. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and hazardous metals waste were removed from the warehouse prior to demolition for shipment to an off-site disposal facility. Forklifts, welders, piping, mills, lathes, and other equipment were among the nearly 38,000 cubic feet of material removed prior to demolition. The building’s removal kicked off the current inactive facilities demolition project that also includes a fuel oil storage tank, acid tanks, waste storage facilities, a 50-ton truck scale building, and smaller ancillary facilities.
The 12 projects build on the site’s decontamination and decommissioning efforts that have so far resulted in demolition of facilities totaling nearly 400,000 square feet.
“We have initiated additional smaller demolition projects after safely finishing demolition of the C-410/C-420 Feed Plant complex in 2015,” Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard said. “Removing these 12 buildings will positively change the landscape of the site and further our goal of making the site safer by removing inactive structures before they deteriorate.”
An estimated 1,600 cubic yards of the demolition waste — enough to fill more than 1,000 pickup trucks — will be disposed at an on-site landfill.
Shane Reeder, FPDP demolition project manager, credits proper planning and a knowledgeable subcontractor workforce for the efficient start to the new demolition phase. Lessons learned from the site’s previous demolition activities helped FPDP to begin demolition on schedule.