More Than a Million
November 08, 2022
By: Alexa Schlosser
In 2017, Toyota Motor North America moved its headquarters from Torrance, California, to Plano, Texas. A development company purchased the sprawling Torrance campus and began parts two and three of a three-phase redevelopment project.
Early on, the developer partnered with NDA member American Wrecking Inc. (AWI) to provide a cost estimate to demolish the site and help the developer win the bid. “We pride ourselves with providing our customers with excellent personalized service that allows us to build trusting relationships,” says Glenn Bell, chief estimator/project manager at AWI.
“Our team has earned a reputation in the demolition industry of honesty, integrity and hard work with aggressive pricing and schedules.”
Phase 2 of the project begain in April 2020 and involved AWI demolishing six three-story office buildings, one two-story research and development building, and two central plants. In total, the buildings accounted for 785,000 square feet on 33 acres. Phase 2 equipment consisted of up to 15 track excavators, two CAT 988 loaders, a CAT 973 loader, multiple skid steers, multiple water trucks and a PowerScreen 320 Crusher. The company’s excavator fleet mainly consisted of tier 4 Volvos ranging from 750s down to 250s.
Phase 3, which started in March 2022 and is scheduled to be complete at the end of the year, includes the demolition of 10 more buildings, totaling approximately 765,000 square feet on 39 acres. The same equipment from Phase 2 is being used in Phase 3 but with the addition of AWI’s 750 Volvo high-reach excavator, “Hoss,” which will be used to take down the approximately 85-foot-tall office building from
inside the basement.
“The common strategy in the SoCal demolition market requires mass operations of source separation in order to minimize waste to landfills while also maximizing scrap income,” Bell says. “American Wrecking is an expert in this process. Because we own all of our own equipment, trucks, crushers, tub grinders and we have the real estate/financial wherewithall, we are capable of being patient when it comes to the sale of reusable equipment and construction materials (e.g., solar panels, air compressors, electrical equipment, roll-up doors, office furniture, generators and even sheet metal siding). This allows us to bring an extremely aggressive price to our clients while still earning an honest profit.”
In terms of the demolition process itself, on both phases, AWI performed source separation using its fleet of excavators, loaders and skid steers with assistance from its labor field. Excavators equipped with thumb buckets, shears, processors, breakers and magnets performed the structural demolition and separation of each type of material into specific piles so that it could be transported off-site to corresponding recycle facilities.
“What makes this job easier is having available our massive 750 Volvo high reach, which can be configured several different ways to complete different tasks,” Bell says. “We will use the highreach boom, capable of reaching 118 feet, to cut the steel beams/columns that make up the 85-foot-tall office building. Support equipment will then clean up and process the materials for recycling. Scrap metals will be transported to scrap dealers, greenwaste will be ground up using our 1300 Moorebark tub grinder and the wood chips/mulch will be sold for reuse. All concrete and asphalt will be crushed on-site and left for reuse by the owner, and just a small percentage of material will be transported to a landfill.”
Bell says the biggest challenge for both phases is to hustle to maximize profits by selling scrap and reusable items at top market value and performing the work in an organized manner so that the labor force and equipment doesn’t have to double or triple handle materials.
Overall, Bell says, Phase 2 was a great success. To AWI, that means a satisfied customer and all personnel going home safely while making an honest profit and “having a little fun.” The company expects Phase 3 to be completed successfully, as well.