Lincoln High School
Owner: Tacoma School District No. 10
ABC members: Evergreen Concrete Cutting, Reprographics NW, Williams Scotsman
Lincoln High School is undergoing a renovation and 47,000-square-foot addition. The 140,000-square-foot facility, built in 1913, is being transformed into a small schools environment housing six different learning academies. General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis expects to have the project finished in early 2008.
Before the improvements got under way, Nuprecon performed an interior strip-and-gut demolition of the main building, select demolition in several auxiliary buildings, and demolition of mechanical and electrical components in an underground tunnel. Nuprecon also demolished a two-story addition that will be replaced by a new three-story addition.
Asbestos abatement was performed prior to demolition by EWR, Nuprecon’s environmental services division. More than 75,000 square feet and 3,500 linear feet of asbestos-containing materials were abated, including mastic, vinyl asbestos tile and pipes. During the process lead paint was also identified and abated.
The tight schedule for select interior demolition required crews to work in concert with little room for delay. Shoring was installed on one side of a corridor at a time as workers demolished the walls and masons followed to install new CMU walls. Once one side of the corridor was completed, the operation moved to the opposite side.
During demolition, workers discovered a structural issue on the second and third floors, which more than doubled shoring requirements in order to maintain a safe environment. To compensate for this delay, Nuprecon brought in extra crews and added a robotic Brokk Minimax machine to maximize efficiency.
During the select demolition of the two-story addition, crews preserved historic brick and stone for use in the new three-story addition. Nutech, Nuprecon’s concrete sawing and drilling division, cut an opening that will join the new addition to the original building. Demolition of a small outbuilding, previously used for auxiliary classrooms, completed the project.
The predominantly wooden structure required that crews take special care during torch burning and pay attention to ventilation to ensure worker safety.
The $3.14 million demolition project was completed in just over six months, three of which occurred while school was in session. There were no time loss injuries for the 24,536 hours of work.