City Hall Update, February 2024

February 7, 2024

Last week, the last of the exterior walls of the old police station came down. This week, the interior walls are coming down. Once the vertical demolition is done crews will start demo work on the basement and foundation.   

February 16, 2024

If you have seen the construction site in the last week, you may have noticed that the crew is sorting the building debris. The City’s project manual requires the management of construction debris. Each month, the construction contractor submits a report about how much of the building debris is being salvaged, recycled, or brought to the landfill. We aim to provide responsible management of construction debris and divert and reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill. 

How is this done? As sections of the building are torn down, crews switch to salvage mode and use smaller equipment to sift through the rumble and separate the large steel beams and other metal pieces of the building. The equipment operators use a claw-like machine to crunch the concrete off the steel girders so they will be clean of any concrete before being brought for recycling. Smaller equipment uses the backhoe bucket teeth to sift the other metals from the ruble.  

Be Safe! Watching the deconstruction of the Police HQ is pretty mesmerizing. The way the large claw machine can rip the building to pieces is, for no better words, really cool to watch. However, it is extremely important to remember this is an active construction site, and safety is our main concern. Only construction personnel are allowed on the construction site. 

February 27, 2024

That’s a big pile of rubble.

This week, the team is working on sifting through the rubble and picking out all the recyclable materials. The sorting process is rather interesting to watch. The crew uses a large claw-like piece of equipment and another basket claw that allows some small rubble to fall through. Most of the time, two large pieces of equipment are working to sift through the debris; at times, you may even see three. 

The Crew is sorting the debris into distinct piles, a few with the smaller pieces of metal and one with the giant steel girders.

Large debris removal trucks are also entering and leaving the job site this week. Crews are loading these large trucks with the large steel pieces for recycling.

Remember, be safe, and do not enter the construction zone. Only construction personnel are allowed on the site.