Don’t be fooled

There is no shortage of interesting demolition projects going on at any given time. Each office building, hospital, stadium, factory, bridge or shopping plaza has a unique set of challenges to overcome in order to be taken down safely and successfully. People should not underestimate the amount of specialty work that goes into taking these structures down.

Demolition contractors can make it look easy to the untrained eye, but don’t let them fool you. Demolition is often much more complex than the public realizes. Many of these firms have been in business for generations or have experienced employees who understand the complexities of the work. They know how to carefully take down a multistory structure without compromising the building’s integrity. They can remove hazardous materials, minimize noise and dust, operate heavy machinery and recycle as much of the metals, concrete and dirt as possible. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. And when they are done on a site, you would have no idea anything ever stood there.

Construction & Demolition Recycling’s 2016 Demolition Supplement features some recent high-profile projects and industry insights from some of the best managers and executives in the field today. You’ll read about one of the largest demolition firms in the country, Independence Excavating, and how it approaches its mobile and stationary crushing operations. You also will learn how precision drilling helped to take down the largest pier of the old San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge via controlled implosion. And you will gain an understanding on how one demolition firm maximized recycling during a medical center demolition in Princeton, New Jersey.

These articles are just a sampling of the types of demolition projects being performed by talented contractors across the country. Each building that no longer stands as a result of a well done demolition is part of history, and thanks to the work of skilled demolition firms many more stories get to be told as testified to by the new developments that take their place.