Construction Equipment Guide
470 Maryland Drive
Fort Washington, PA 19034
800-523-2200
Wed August 30, 2000 - Northeast Edition
When the Bethlehem Steel Corporation decided it was time to retire much of its 1,800-acre plant, Brandenburg Industrial Service Company, Chicago, IL, was called in.
In 1994, Brandenburg Industrial was retained to assess the Bethlehem, PA, plant and develop a plan for demolition and site remediation.
Brandenburg was directed to identify the options available to BSC. Documentation of existing conditions was the first and most critical step. Using a combination of field inspections and existing plant records, Brandenburg collected sufficient data to create accurate maps of existing electrical, fuel, gas, steam and water systems. Maps of each system provided a plant-wide perspective of the Bethlehem plant.
Access to these maps allowed BSC to quickly develop a comprehensive demolition and site remediation plan.
Based on clear direction from BSC, Brandenburg began the second phase of the assessment process. Brandenburg developed a detailed scope of work which described each task necessary to complete the BSC demolition plan. Electrical reroutes, pipe relocations, asbestos abatement, environmental remediation and structure removal tasks were identified, described and priced separately.
Salvage and scrap values were documented. Taking specific costs and salvage prices into consideration, BSC selected a long-term removal and redevelopment plan for implementation. Subsequent changes by BSC resulted in several revisions to the original BSC plan. With access to the specific prices and utility surveys previously developed by Brandenburg, BSC was able to select these revisions quickly and confidently with a clear understanding of the commercial impact of each revision.
Brandenburg began actual removal work in 1995. All removal will be completed in 2005. Upon completion Brandenburg will have:
• Disposed of 6,500 cu. ft. (5,000 cu m) of asbestos materials.
• Recycled 975,000 tons (750,000 t) of ferrous scrap.
• Recycled 1,300 tons (1,000 t) of hazardous coke oven by-products.
The 1,800-acre brownfield site constitutes the largest single industrial site known to have been redeveloped.