Tailored task: B&B Wrecking recovers steel and aggregates from an old garment factory in Cleveland.

When Brian Baumann learned that a century-old former garment factory on the west side of Cleveland would be put up for bid as a demolition project, he was eager to help his company put together a proposal.

The property in question is not only located in B&B Wrecking & Excavating Inc.'s hometown, it is literally down the street, just a "Tiger Woods tee shot" away from B&B's office, according to Baumann.

After winning the bid, Baumann has enjoyed being able to check up on a significant demolition and recycling project at his convenience, without the drive time that can nab time away from a contractor's day.

AROUND THE TOWN

B&B Wrecking & Excavating is a demolition, recycling and hazardous material abatement contractor with a regional presence spreading beyond northeast Ohio into other parts of the state as well as into adjacent states.

A menu of current and recent projects undertaken by B&B reveals a range of high-profile jobs, including demolition and concrete recycling work performed at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport; industrial projects in Cleveland and nearby Oberlin and Ashtabula, Ohio; and residential and commercial interior projects in and around Cleveland.

According to Baumann, B&B is often involved in from seven to 10 projects at any one time, which can make supervisory schedules hectic.

The project at the former garment factory has thus become a favorite of Brian's, since keeping track of progress on the job is as simple as taking a walk around the block. The proximity of the structures is just one reason Baumann is happy to have the project on B&B's schedule, he remarks.

"It's close to the office, but it's also close to the freeway, which means good highway access as well as a chance for publicity," says Baumann.

Technically, B&B is a subcontractor on the Joseph & Feiss Co. job. Before B&B's crew could get started with its work, Precision Environmental Co., Independence, Ohio, was responsible for removing a considerable amount of asbestos from the site.

According to Baumann, Precision Environmental spent five weeks with up to 40 workers at a time carefully and thoroughly removing asbestos from the job site, both the building to be demolished and the structures that remain standing that will become residential properties.

The site is only a few dozen yards from Interstate 90, not far from an access ramp and about two miles from downtown Cleveland. As Baumann notes, the location near a major commuting artery means much of Cleveland's work force can keep track of the project right along with B&B.

CAREFULLY MAKING ROOM

Another aspect of the job that Baumann likes is its three-month timetable, which should be adhered to despite the fact that B&B must be mindful of adjacent structures with historical significance.

The building being taken down was originally a Joseph & Feiss Co. clothing manufacturing plant. It is part of a manufacturing, warehouse and office complex that dates back 110 years.

The men's suit and coat maker was eventually acquired by European conglomerate Hugo Boss, which moved production operations to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1998 while retaining some warehousing functions in the building for a few more years.

But the underutilized old buildings soon became expendable, and community planners were eager to make sure the land quickly reverted to a functional use.

Current plans call for a residential community that will offer 150 townhouses and lofts on a 12-acre parcel of land. The 96 townhouses will be new structures built over the parts of the plant that B&B is currently taking down.

The lofts, however, will be situated in a former warehousing and office structure located next to the demolished plant. As part of its project, B&B must carefully work around this building.

But neither Baumann nor site supervisor Michael Beck have found the need to preserve the warehouse/office structure (as well as one existing wall from the old plant that is to be left in place and a third building on the opposite side of the property that must also be undisturbed) as restrictive.

Part of the reason is that B&B is performing the job to separate materials and to recover a large percentage of them. "We started by stripping the wooden floor out of the factory to remove wood from the work site," says Beck, noting the material is considered a contaminant both in recycled aggregates and in scrap metal grades. "You want both products to be clean."

On the site, sheet and structural scrap steel as well as rebar that can be plucked from the concrete is separated and placed in or near a scrap company's roll-off container.

Concrete and red brick are separated from each other as well as from the other materials. Both will be crushed and used as backfill on the property, says Baumann, but the "different material densities mean they have different properties as backfill materials," he says of concrete and brick.

On a recent afternoon at the site, two excavators and two skid steers worked separately but with a common purpose: To nip away at the remaining structure while producing debris that can be placed in either the clean metals pile, one of the clean aggregates piles or into a rubble pile that is deemed to be worth further processing using hydraulic work tools to separate rebar from concrete.

The smallest pile--and B&B hopes it stays that way--is of material deemed suitable only for an inert landfill located about five miles away.

With scrap prices at historic highs, and with B&B scheduling for one of its own crushers to come on site to make suitable aggregate fill material for site preparation purposes, the company prefers to produce as little out-and-out waste as possible.

If all goes as planned, Baumann predicts that B&B will be able to recycle 85 percent of the debris generated by the project.

Baumann is particularly happy that the project should yield 800 tons of recyclable metal at a time when prices are extremely favorable. "Right now scrap companies are calling us looking to offer us favorable terms for the material," he notes. "They have a very good market right now, and they deserve it after some tough years."

The author is editor of Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be contacted at [e-mail].