Storming the palace: Viet & Company brings down a Saint Paul, Minn., Winter Carnival landmark.

It didn't take long for Veit & Company to bring down King Boreas' spectacular Ice Palace and surrounding ice wall February 18.

Built from 27,000 blocks of ice, the enormous royal house was the center of attention at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, which ran from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7 in Minnesota's capital city.

Mayor Randy Kelly took the controls of a Veit backhoe to ceremoniously knock down the first wall of ice. By the end of the day, Veit had all the ice down. It took a couple more days for Veit to haul 320 truck loads of ice to a nearby melting area.

Veit's Steve Hosier say that nearly all of the remaining materials used in construction of the palace were recycled. This included steel support girders in the palace's tire towers, steel rods and canvas used to form the tower peaks and other materials.

Veit & Company, a business unit of Veit Companies in Rogers, Minn., was one of 25 area contractors who donated labor, equipment and materials for this high-profile project.

Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, which managed construction of the palace, contracted Veit & Company late last year to prepare the 5-acre site across the street from the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. Veit excavated 6 feet of silt and clay-laden soil and 2 feet of peat, backfilled with clean sand and packed everything down to support tons of ice. Veit also graded the entire area for drainage and spread 2,400 tons of limestone base over the entire area.

Veit Disposal Systems volunteered labor and equipment to haul away tons of broken and unused chunks of ice that were discarded during construction, which began early in January. The ice blocks were cut and hauled from Lake Phalen, just a few miles north of the city. Each block measured 42 inches by 28 inches by 22 inches and weighed about 500 pounds.

More than 50,000 man-hours were needed to complete the Ice Palace, which was approximately 240-feet long and 75feet high at its tallest point. A 10-loor high ice wall surrounded the entire area, which included the palace, a large performance stage, tents for exhibitors and concessions, a skating rink and ice sculptures.

More than a million people went through the palace, according to carnival officials. Many came at night to see the structure sparkle from hundreds of strobes and the theatrical lighting that constantly changed colors, all of which used enough electricity to power three large retail centers.

It is not the first time Veit & Co. has brought a recycling touch to a high-profile demolition project. In just the past several years alone, the 76-year-old company has been involved in the demolition and recycling of the St. Paul Civic Center, a 140-feet-tall grain mill in Minneapolis, and 165 obsolete Department of Defense missile silos in North Dakota.

The Veit Disposal Systems division of the company operates recycling facilities in five different Minnesota cities, offering debris sorting and the recovery of recyclable materials. The Demolition Division strives to optimize recovery as well, with the St. Paul Civic Center project achieving a 98 percent recycling rate.

The author submitted this feature on behalf of Veit & Company.