Facilities Reduction Program complete project at Aberdeen Proving Ground

U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville
Published April 28, 2015
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Center’s Facilities Reduction Program completed a project to demolish a water tower that was originally part of an old boiler plant at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Center’s Facilities Reduction Program completed a project to demolish a water tower that was originally part of an old boiler plant at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Figuring out the best, safest way to demolish an old water tower at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, challenged the Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville’s Facilities Reduction Team.

The water tower was originally part of an old boiler plant used to make steam for heating purposes. It was particularly challenging due to numerous safety concerns.

“The water tower demolition was unique due to the many safety aspects relative to its location,” said Anthony Gibson, FRP project manager. “Generally we like to see a short time frame in completing projects. However, because of safety and other work plan requirements, it took a bit longer to complete this project. Since our main goal is to ensure safe and efficient demolition methods are used, we want to use innovations that are environmentally friendly to avoid using any methods or procedures that will put human lives at stake.”

Gibson said this project had safety concerns like asbestos abatement, the presence of unexploded ordnance and threat of white phosphorous in the area. Aberdeen’s Directorate of Public Works and UXO Environmental teams provided the support the team needed to get the project completed.

Donnie Butler, safety engineer at Huntsville Center’s Safety Office, said his office will not approve a demolition and disposal plan if methods and procedures don’t meet strict safety guidelines. It takes lots of coordination with other entities on a military installation to get the job done.

According to Butler, the FRP team was totally committed to making safety an integral part of the project and their entire program. He said the unwavering support he gets from the program manager and project managers makes doing his job easier. He also works closely with other technical folks at the project sites worldwide. For this particular project, he worked with the FRP team, Edgewood’s DPW staff and the Corps’ Baltimore District’s field representative to come up with the best plan for removing the structure.

“I am the safety point of contact for review and acceptance of the FRP’s Contractor’s Accident Prevention Plan. A contractor cannot begin work on a project without an approved APP before a contracting officer giving a Notice to Proceed,” Butler said. “I also do periodic safety audits at some of the site locations and resolve any safety questions and concerns throughout the lifecycle of a project. The entire team was focused on what is most important, human safety and environmental stewardship.”

Dale Duncan, Baltimore District’s field representative and project engineer, said she and Gibson worked together to find an innovative way to meet the needs of the customer and maintain optimal project safety.

“The initial work plan was to make cuts on the structure’s legs and simply allow the tower to fall,” Duncan said. “After taking a closer look, some team members weren’t comfortable with making cuts to the structure’s legs because the structure was unstable based on the contractor’s analysis. So we all agreed to allow the contractor to tip the tower instead of tripping the tower. This is a much safer way to fell the structure with fewer cuts to do, and most importantly the structure remains stable during the process. Also, the center steam pipe of the tank receives a set cut instead of a section removed because once you remove the section the steam pipe is hanging from the tank so you have the pipe stressing the connection below the tank. We were able to avoid any of these issues.”

Demolition ended April 1, and workers recycled uncontaminated concrete and asphalt, stone, steel, grass and soil from the water tower and surrounding area. The contaminated materials will be disposed of in the proper manner. Allen Shelvin, the FRP program manager, stresses the impact of choosing the correct destruction method for the customer and the Huntsville Center.

“Following the strict safety guidelines set forth by our safety staff plays an important role in the successful completion of our mission,” Shelvin said. “We’re always going to opt for demolition methods that focus on safety over meeting deadlines. Sometimes we have to adjust a project delivery date due to safety issues. There is also a significant focus on recycling and reusing materials on projects, which allows us to reduce our project costs. Reducing our project costs allows the program funds to go further, and we get more done with less.”

“This project is a great teaching tool for our program,” said Dave Shockley, chief of the Access Control Point, Facilities Reduction Program and Special Projects Branch. “Each project is unique in its own right. Understanding what the best removal methods are and then going the extra mile to ensure they’re used produces amazing results. It sounds too good to be true, but making safety a priority on our end has driven facility reduction costs down, way down.

“FRP manages four regional Multiple Award Task Order Contracts with a $48 million capacity per region for a total of $196 million. These national MATOCs utilize an improved acquisition strategy with standardized contract language to ensure employment of industry best practices, thus reducing costs and improving recycling and waste stream reduction. FRP has a programmatic landfill diversion rate of approximately 72 percent by weight on all demolition over the last 10 plus years. FRP uses competition between expert demolition contractors to maximize the salvage value of recyclable materials to offset the cost of demolition. FRP does not perform unnecessary lead-based paint abatement, uses appropriate asbestos abatement standards for demolition and crushes concrete on-site as backfill whenever possible which substantially reduce execution costs. Understanding what the best removal methods are and then going the extra mile to ensure they’re used produces amazing results. It sounds too good to be true, but making safety a priority on our end has driven facility reduction costs down, way down," Shockley said. "I’m proud of my team."