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Demolition marks start of Arlington National Cemetery expansion
Spring 2013
What once served as the headquarters for the United States Marine Corps is being demolished and the land it sat on restored to green space to make way for an expansion of Arlington National Cemetery. An iconic building once planned as a temporary warehouse for the U.S. Army was occupied for more than 70 years, and now two Doosan excavators are helping to tear it down.
Its name is Federal Office Building 2 (FOB 2), more commonly known as the Navy Annex. It's a massive structure, built in 1941, and is more than 1 million square feet. It was never intended to last for decades, and it finally met its fate when it was tagged for demolition.
It was constructed at the same time as the Pentagon and the two are within walking distance. Located on the corner of South Gate Road and Columbia Pike in Arlington, Va., the Navy Annex occupies approximately 42 acres. Its four-story, U-shaped structure has seven wings that in past years were the offices of up to 6,000 federal employees. Occupants dwindled as the building aged, and recently fewer than two hundred employees worked there.
According to the Department of Defense Washington Headquarters Services, in accordance with the FY2000 Defense Authorization Act, the office of the Secretary of Defense is responsible for transferring the land occupied by the Navy Annex and adjacent land to the Department of the Army. In August 2012, Corinthian Contractors Inc./Demolition Services Inc. (DSI), a joint venture, were awarded the project.
Demolition marks significant change
Changes at the Navy Annex began happening in fall 2012. Crews from a local demolition company were called in to start the systematic removal of the concrete giant. DSI is a highly regarded demolition company from Manassas, Va., and began its work in November 2012. DSI President Ron Feather and Vice President of Project Management/Preconstruction Chris Zylonis are overseeing the progress. Field operations for the project are being efficiently executed by General Superintendent Justin "Bulldog" Stanley.
While it's a relatively young company started in 2008, DSI has quickly become a big name in demolition and recycling, abatement and hazardous material disposal in the Mid-Atlantic region. Demolishing the Navy Annex demonstrates the company's abilities, both in expertise and equipment management. The company owns about 35 pieces of heavy equipment, and most of them are excavators. They were the first DSI machines onsite for the Navy Annex demolition project.
The demolition and site renovation project was divided into five parts:
- Abatement and removal of hazardous materials
- Removal of recyclable materials
- Demolition of the facility
- Removal of debris
- Restoration of the land after all man-made improvements are removed
Roughly 30 employees started the demolition phase, as interior crews gutted and stripped the building, according to Zylonis.
"We gutted the structure from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, leaving a clean shell," Zylonis says. "We removed the construction debris and sorted through it for recyclables. We typically have an excavator on the jobsite to load out construction debris, trash, recyclable metals, etc."
Among the excavators at the Navy Annex demolition project were a Doosan DX225LC and a DX300LC-3, equipped with material-handling attachments to easily grab and remove debris. Zylonis says the two Doosan excavators worked in tandem with a specialty excavator (not Doosan) outfitted with an 85-foot boom. It reached the highest points of the building and, according to Zylonis, surgically demolished part of the structure.
"Our DX225LC and DX300LC came in handy right away," Zylonis says. "We brought them on the site early and have used them from day one, rather than a machine that's too large or too small and not able to perform any of the work until we get to a certain point in the demolition process. The Doosan excavators have been productive machines on the site."
Once the building is cleared, it will be demolished from top to bottom. Feather and Zylonis estimate that it will take up to a year to complete the project. "We surgically gut the interior floors, and then collapse the roof into it, bring the structure to the ground." That will mark the end of FOB 2.
Recycling demolition waste
Demolition companies like DSI have become smarter marketers, selling processed demolition debris like concrete to contractors building new structures, often on the same site. Ninety percent of the materials extracted from the Navy Annex will be recycled, according to Feather.
"We try to crush a lot of our material onsite," he says. "We have a fleet of mobile crushing equipment, screeners onsite. A lot of the customers we work for, we're able to give them a spec product, if they're building a new building on the site. They can utilize the material on the jobsite."
Material is typically stockpiled and processed again to fit in the crusher. "It allows us to get more demolition done on a square foot production rate," Feather says. "Then we can use our equipment to load the material into the crushers, reducing the amount of loose material, such as construction debris, rebar, wires, etc."
Since there will not be a new building constructed on the Navy Annex property, Feather already has ideas for the materials. "We're crushing the material and marketing it for use in the D.C. metropolitan area. We're producing a spec material that is typically used in this area," Feather says. "It will be used on other jobs, whether it's our own project or another contractor's project," Zylonis adds.
Once the demolition debris is removed from the site, there is 12 feet of dirt that will be removed and replaced, eventually used for future graves for eligible U.S. military veterans and their eligible family members.
About DSI
Feather had an interest in construction and demolition since he was a child. As an adult, he worked his way up in the demolition industry until he got to where he wanted to be - a business owner of Demolition Services Inc.
DSI has as many as 15 demolition projects going on at the same time, which is why Feather depends heavily on his employees and reliable equipment. The company provides demolition services for residential, commercial and industrial facilities, and works in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware and West Virginia. As the company has grown, so too has its geographic reach. It has performed demolition jobs in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, even going as far away as California.
Family members such as Feather's father, Ronald "Pops" Feather, operations manager, and wife, Melissa Feather, director of finance, work for the company, and he says he has many employees who are like partners. "There's a lot of involvement with what I say ‘partners,' Chris Zylonis being one of them, who have really put us on top of everything," Feather says. Zylonis is Feather's right-hand man, helping with preconstruction services and project management. Zylonis does much of the bidding and securing the work. He helps the company bid on as many as 300 jobs a year.
Partnership with Doosan dealer
Zylonis introduced Feather to Doosan equipment through an existing relationship with the local dealer, H&E Equipment Services, in Warrenton, Va. Feather had owned another brand of heavy equipment before being persuaded by Zylonis to give Doosan equipment a try. The first Doosan machine made its way onto a DSI jobsite in 2012.
"We started adding them to our fleet after renting Doosan machines from H&E Equipment Services," Feather says. "Chris introduced me to Joe Cintella, territory manager, H&E Equipment Services and the Doosan brand. To be honest, I was a little shy of them. I knew the name, but never had dealt with the dealership. The equipment that we had was much of the same equipment I had been operating since I started.
"Some work came in and we needed rental equipment because we had all of our other equipment tied up. In order to make the job happen, we rented from H&E Equipment Services. Once I saw how they treated us, I was impressed. Their customer service is outstanding. They go above and beyond, in my opinion."
"I like working with H&E Equipment Services because they're service-oriented," Zylonis says. "If an issue comes up, they seem to be flexible, and they have several locations in the area, which makes it convenient. We have a fairly wide region we cover, and they always seem to have a dealership within the area."
Reliable Doosan pair
Demolition crews from DSI depend on two Doosan crawler excavators and attachments to handle a variety of demanding material-handling applications, from tearing apart buildings to lifting and sorting construction debris before it is processed in a concrete crusher.
"The DX225LC is a large enough machine that we can attack any demolition project," Feather says, "yet it is small enough to fit nicely on our jobsites. The DX300LC is a nice complement to the DX225LC. It's a well-built machine and has plenty of power."
Feather notes that both machines are fuel-efficient and he appreciates auto idle. "The auto-idle feature saves fuel and wear and tear on the engine; it's idling down a little sooner, so we don't have extra time on the equipment." Auto idle is a standard feature that automatically reduces engine rpm when the machine functions are not used for four seconds. It reduces noise, improves jobsite communications and saves fuel.
The 213-horsepower DX300LC-3 has a standard reach of 36 feet 4 inches for minimal repositioning during demolition. "Once it hits the ground, it starts working," Feather says. "We're pretty hard on equipment for the application we put it in. We've been very pleased with the Doosan excavators thus far. Whether it's the end of a project or when we take possession of a rental, the operators are comfortable and speak highly of Doosan excavators."
Since purchasing the two Doosan excavators, operators have been pleased with machine performance, comfort and ease of maintenance. Operators have reported quieter cabs from the two Doosan excavators, thanks to a sound-isolating seal that reduces noise in the pressurized cab. Doosan cabs are designed to absorb vibrations, too. "The operators seem to be more productive and aren't as tired at the end of the workday," Feather says. "A quieter cab makes a difference in the noise levels and operator fatigue."
DSI pays close attention to the maintenance needs of its equipment. "Operators of the machines do their daily checklist," Feather says. "Our superintendents come into our office and log the information in our server. Then, our mechanics pull the data off and know exactly how many hours the machine has and when it needs to be serviced."
For simple daily maintenance, Doosan excavators have centralized arm and boom grease points. "Our mechanic has been pleased with the Doosan machines; he hasn't had to spend a lot of time on them," Zylonis says. "He says the servicing of the Doosan excavators is simpler; he's able to get in and get out easier. He saves time when he services the DX225LC and DX300LC. Having access to the grease points makes it pretty simple."
"The bushings and pins are holding up for the wear and tear we put on them," Feather says. "It seems like they are holding together better than the rest."
With durable and reliable Doosan excavators on their team, DSI is on schedule to have the demolition complete in 2013, making way for the expected expansion of Arlington National Cemetery. The temporary building will finally be removed to provide a final resting place for U.S. military personnel and their family members.
