By Debbie Norton

With Lenexa, KS's prime location at the intersection of Interstate 35, the Interstate 435 loop, and Kansas Highway 10, more than a million motorists pass through this growing community of 40,000 residents each day. With the demolition of one high-profile eyesore that has sat vacant for seven years, the city is looking forward to its continued growth as a major business center.

Lenexa, KS's Levitz furniture store before demolition

The former Levitz furniture store at the corner of 93rd Street and Marshall Drive is now a memory, making way for a new Costco Wholesale warehouse that will be built in its place. The two-story, concrete-block store's demolition, as well as the demolition of 11 houses in the 12-ac. zone to be occupied by Costco, presented quite a challenge to Kansas City, MO, contractor DECO Construction Inc.

"Two things complicated our job," explains Aaron Bradley, project manger for DECO. "The first was the fact that the drilled piers that provided the foundation of the building turned out to extend from 12 to 20 feet into Kansas bedrock. That is very unusual for a slab-on-grade structure like that. We were counting on a standard foundation."

The second obstacle was the presence of asbestos in the flooring of the store and in all 11 demolished houses. "All of the houses had varying degrees of asbestos," Bradley says. "Abatement had to take place by our specialists before any demolition work could begin, to comply with federal regulations and to safeguard the public."

Adding to the complexity of the job was the tight time frame that Costco gave DECO to reach completion. "There was a big push to get this done in a relatively short amount of time, including the additional roadwork we had to do to prepare the site for construction," Bradley recalls. The first phase of asbestos abatement started on June 25, with final work ending on November 1.

DECO's more than 17 years' experience handling extensive site redevelopment throughout the Midwest prepared it for this project. Under the direction of brothers Steve and Greg Short, DECO has grown in the number of services it provides and territories it serves to become one of the nation's top demolition contractors. In addition to residential, commercial, and industrial demolition, the company also handles asbestos abatement, plant dismantling and liquidations, excavation, hauling, and salvage. One major project that launched DECO into its growth pattern is at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, MO. Starting in 1986, DECO has maintained a full-time operation there.

Demolition Contractor's New Challenges

Various stages of the demolition process

In addition to handling the asbestos abatement, the contractor had to properly dispose of more than 100,000 fluorescent light bulbs and 2,000 light ballasts, which today are categorized as hazardous waste.

Rather than using a wrecking ball, DECO workers used grapples and shears to bring down the 169,000-ft.² building and its foundation. The company also put to use its new Caterpillar 345 trackhoe to root out sections of the building. Sophisticated machines and attachments such as these are typical of the safer and more efficient equipment being used by today's contractors. DECO President Steve Short serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Demolition Contractors, which sees as one of its functions the education of American business and the public on the professionalism of modern demolition contractors.

With the cost of depositing debris in landfills becoming prohibitive, contractors such as DECO have developed specialized aftermarkets for construction and demolition waste. On the Costco project, DECO took the concrete block from the old furniture store and moved a large amount of it to use as fill on the construction site. Steel from the building's frame was sold to a scrap yard, where it is reprocessed for new uses.

With its expertise in excavation, DECO worked on a 30,000-yd.³ cut-and-fill in which the soil is cut off one side of the site and moved over to the other side, put it in place, and compacted. Another 42,000 yd.³ of soil was hauled off to find use in another construction site. In addition, DECO demolished all existing asphalt at the site, cutting the area to final grade for roadway widening and sidewalk construction. Budget for the demolition project was $834,000, with an additional $38,000 for work done on new roads and structures.

Soon to rise on the site, constructed by general contractor Elan Construction of Calgary, AB, is a Costco Wholesale Company warehouse, one of 370 worldwide. The average warehouse size is 133,000 ft.²

Debbie Norton is safety assistant with DECO Companies in Kansas City, MO.