Sanford Ave School, Hamilton
The scope of work for this project included the Abatement, Demolition, and Site Restoration of a School from the 1920’s, it also involved preparing the site and installing a new soccer field for the local residences
Project Description:
This project entailed the asbestos abatement and demolition of a 96,000 sf school.
This project presented numerous challenges, all of which were to be included in our base bid. The first challenge was the fact that the building had been deemed historical. The School Board was able to overcome this challenge by preparing a Heritage Report which detailed a salvage plan. It was our responsibility to engage a Stone Mason and salvage numerous items from the exterior façade, as detailed in the report. It was also our responsibility to salvage numerous pieces from within the interior of the school. All of the items detailed in the report were removed, numbered and prepared for storage. Once the items were ready, they were all turned over to the school board, who, in turn, have placed the items into storage for reuse in future projects.
The next challenge was the fact that the Building was attached to the Pinky Lewis Rec Centre, which was to remain. The School was attached to the Rec Centre by way of a common wall with the Gymnasium. The tender specified a restoration plan for the remaining common wall, which was part of our tender to include for this work.
Another challenge was the asbestos abatement, it ranged from Type 1 removals to Type 3 removals. This was completed under the full time onsite supervision of the Abatement Consultant. All work was completed to the satisfaction of the consultant, following the MOL Regulations in place. The Environmental removals also included the removal of all of the windows which were covered in a Lead Glazing. These were removed and disposed of in accordance with MOE Regulations.
Once all of the Asbestos & Lead Abatement was completed, our crews set to work isolating the Gymnasium from the Rec Centre. This was completed by selective Hand Demolition of the roof and adjoining block and brick walls. Once the isolations were safely completed, the crews set to work demolishing the school. Due to the height of the main building, our high reach excavator was brought in to undertake this task. Additional pieces of equipment were brought onsite to support the high reach. As the high reach brought down the school, the supporting excavators separated the materials. Once the building was demolished, all the below grade foundations and footings were removed from below grade at the site.
Over 90% of materials from the demolition were diverted from landfills, and were able to be recycled or reuse in various applications. Although this project was not a LEEDs project, it was treated like one, in that all loads were logged, and all information was tracked about the end use of all of the materials that left the site. This format has been adapted for all of our demolition sites, as this has proven to be a cost effective and environmentally responsible approach to demolition.
Once all demolition work was complete, the Restoration work on the common wall had to start. As the common wall was once an interior wall, it now had to be prepared and restored to become an exterior wall. Weeping tiles and a sump pit were installed along the base of the footings. Various forms of water proofing was installed, as had been specified in the drawings provided by the Architect during the tender phase.
Once the foundations were prepared to become exterior foundations, the backfilling of the site began. Roughly 560 loads of clean fill were imported to the site to fill the enormous basement cavity. As the backfill lifts were being completed, the compaction was being tested by a third party compaction testing firm. Once the required compaction was achieved, the next lift would begin.
Once the desired grade was achieved, the restoration of the Pinky Lewis Rec Centre was completed. A new concrete bumper was poured along the base of the wall, the block was waterproofed using a type of blueskin / foam waterproofing that was spec’d in the tender package, once this was set, the metal siding was installed along with the capping and flashing of the roofing.
As the restoration work was being completed, Budget Demolition was assigned the responsiblity of managing the installation of a new soccer field. This involved managing multiple trades including, grading, irrigation, fencing, sodding, asphalt & line painting.
Budget is proud to say that the new soccer field was rated the number 1 field in Hamilton.
