Belish | stock.adobe.com
Mark Loizeaux, president and owner of Phoenix, Maryland-based Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI), a demolition company based in Phoenix, Maryland. has been on implosion project sites since he was a child working in the 1950’s with his father, Jack Loizeaux, who felled his first structure with explosives in 1947. The company is now international, demolishing everything from skyscrapers to wind turbines.
Loizeaux says that premobilization preparation for a controlled demolition project is the most important thing a company can do. On average, this takes anywhere from a day or two to three months, depending on the project's size, complexity of the structures to be demolished and the location. Some of what goes into planning a project include obtaining permits, ensuring compliance with federal and state safety regulations and creating a proper demolition plan for the structure. One of the key aspects of the preparation leading up to a job is first understanding and then reaching out to the surrounding community.
Loizeaux says outreach is important because contractors want to maintain or improve the relationship the property owner already has with his neighbors to support the future development of his site. Thoughtful community outreach can also protect the property owner and contractor from litigation that could have been avoided.
Since community outreach is vital to demolition planning and controlling risks associated with an implosion project, Loizeaux says outreach could range from taking one day to several months to complete. It depends on the size of the structure being demolished and the proximity to the community as well as the community's opinions on demolition around the demolition site.
Loizeaux says that while outreach protects the residents and business owners surrounding the site, it also allows a contractor to develop individual plans to protect specific adjacent buildings that border a job site. This process helps contractors address issues like vibration, dust or noise which are unavoidable byproducts of implosion operations.
The advantage of implosion is that it reduces risk to workers and brings a structure to grade in a fraction of the time of conventional demolition. The vibration, noise and dust remain more or less the same, but the reduced duration of the neighborhood’s exposure to those byproducts of demolition create far less impact on the community surrounding the site.
"Even before CDI bids an urban implosion project, we identify the sensitivity of each of the neighbors to the unavoidable byproducts of what you intend to do with that particular building at that particular site,” Loizeaux says. “Then [you have to] develop an implosion plan that will not damage adjacent properties or unduly interrupt services and operations at those adjacent facilities.”
Once the implosion plan is finalized and adjacent property protection is designed, Loizeaux says contractors review the plan with the neighbors to show that their interests and concerns have been taken into consideration. This approach will also help a contractor address areas of concern that weren’t previously identified to improve the overall demolition plan.
The best way to communicate with the surrounding neighbors is keep one-on-one conversations, Loizeaux says, rather than group meetings. Controlled Demolition Inc. does one-on-one interviews to ensure they can best address the unique needs of each individual adjacent property owner. The company or a third-party also conducts pre and postimplosion surveys to inform property owners of any preexisting deficiencies in their structures. Early identification of preexisting conditions helps avoid having adjacent property owners assume that those deficiencies were caused by the implosion.
While there are other outreach methods, like group meetings or social media communications, Loizeaux prefers to avoid them. This is because during a group session, individual needs are not addressed. As a result, something could be overlooked in the implosion plan and coordination of safety during the implosion. Such oversights could expose the contractor to lawsuits down the line.
“If you don't [effectively run an outreach program], and address the adjacent property issues, you will end up in court,” Loizeaux says. “You need to listen to adjacent property owners to understand their concerns and to plan on handling the risks associated with working across the street from them. If you don't pay attention to the details, the details will come back on you.”
