Demolition and Infrastructure Upgrade

Westover Air Reserve Base, Chicopee, Massachusetts

Westover Air Reserve Base (ARB)—home to the 439th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserves—contained two buildings that outlived their usefulness in the base’s infrastructure. The base needed a cost-effective and fast-track solution to removing the buildings and regrading the surface area so it could host the Great New England Air Show, an event that was expected to attract over 10,000 visitors in one weekend.

Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON^®) was hired to manage the demolition and infrastructure upgrade project. The objective was to demolish and remove Buildings 1924 and 1925, the former photographic laboratory for developing aerial images during the Cold War Era, and to restore the base site as a grass field. The client’s ultimate goal for the project was to remove the two buildings and make necessary infrastructure upgrades, leaving the site in an acceptable condition for future development.

Westover’s 439th Airlift Wing flies C5A transport aircraft to support U.S. defense missions, while base civil engineering (Westover CE) is responsible for maintaining the base infrastructure. Westover CE determined that Buildings 1924 and 1925 needed to be demolished because they were outdated and could not be renovated for alternate use. The buildings had been converted for other uses following the Cold War, but were outdated at the time of this project. After asbestos removal and partial demolition, the buildings were essentially gutted and vacant. One side of each building was left exposed to the elements, which was perceived as a safety hazard. The cost of renovating the buildings exceeded the perceived value of saving them. Architecturally, the buildings did not possess any significance to the base and had become an eyesore and a safety hazard.

WESTON Delivers on Schedule

AFCEE and Westover 439 MSG/CE were primarily concerned with providing cost-effective solutions to the base infrastructure problems. The client made it clear that the schedule and final appearance of the site were its highest priorities. WESTON was hired based on prior experience with a wide range of construction and environmental projects, including recycling building materials.

To complete the project according to schedule, WESTON managed the demolition of the buildings and abandonment of the site’s water supply wells. Building materials were segregated and recycled to the greatest extent possible. Building foundations were removed to at least 2 feet below grade, and four bedrock wells up to 750 feet deep were abandoned by tremie grouting from bottom to top.

WESTON:

• Provided daily reports to the on-site client and weekly progress status reports, including cost and schedule updates and photographic documentation of work activities

• Provided project safety officer and site superintendent oversight to ensure that proper procedures were followed and that the work specifications were met

• Tracked the disposal of wastes for documentation of the types and amounts of materials recycled

• Adjusted work according to delays in asbestos clearance prior to demolition in order to meet the work schedule

Site Restored Beyond Expectations

WESTON completed the project ahead of schedule and restored the site to an appearance that exceeded client expectations. The buildings were removed in time to allow grading and hydroseeding of the site and demobilization of equipment before the air show.

WESTON:

• Met the client’s tight schedule, even with delays due to asbestos encountered during the demolition and predemolition asbestos clearance

• Restored the site by providing and operating a temporary watering system for 2 months to allow the grass to become well-established during the driest part of the year

• Installed a new fire hydrant, which was left in place after removal of the watering system for future use by the base

• Used a recycled composted sludge mixture to admix with the sandy site topsoil, which ensured rapid and lush growth of healthy grass

• Saved the client approximately $700,000 above the government’s original projected cost estimate by recycling 95% of the building materials and diverting them to beneficial reuse instead of landfilling

• Saved the client an estimated $10,000 on clean grading material by improving the original site grade and reusing the existing site soils to level the site

The demolition and site grading was completed in 5 weeks, which was 3 weeks shorter than the original schedule. This was accomplished by working on both buildings simultaneously and proceeding with other demolition and site work while asbestos clearance was delayed. WESTON ensured maximum recycling of wastes, and used recycled material and on-site soils to improve the quality of the site restoration and provide significant cost savings to the client.