Erwin Elementary School left behind generations worth of memories before finally closing its doors. As the campus slowly gives way to the future, it’s also leaving behind tons of debris and interesting finds.
Martin Edwards & Associates, the demolition crew hired by Harnett County Schools to clear the Erwin site, found a way to not only reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill but reuse old materials from the campus for a variety of environmentally-friendly purposes.
Demolition started a couple of weeks ago and continues to provide daily surprises for crews who are often digging into the unknown. As each structure comes down, what lies beneath the 70,000 square feet of building is anyone’s guess.
“I cannot begin to tell you how much underground utilities there are here as far as sewer and water because I don’t really think they know exactly,” Ricky Day with Martin Edwards & Associates said. “We actually found a basement from a previous school. It’s been an exciting challenge.”
Part of the planning process included debris removal, with landfill fees adding significant costs to any demolition project. Day implemented tub grading, a method in which certain materials are grinded down and reused in mulch and concrete, saving thousands of dollars and eliminating tons of trash.
“The tub grinder reduces all the debris down to 4-to-1, and we don’t have to send any of this to the landfill,” said Day. “It turns it into mulch and what we can do with this is spread it out on land and essentially it will turn back to dirt and decay away. After that we’re going to start crushing the brick with the concrete. It’s suitable for driveways and stuff like that.”
Powerful magnets help remove most metals from the debris before it reaches the grinder, which then are transported to the salvage yard and recycled.
“One of the discussions we had when we put this project out to bid was for as much of it to be recycled as possible,” Bill Morris, HCS board of education member, said. “You’ve got thousands of tons there and it doesn’t seem right to just dump it off at the landfill.”
Project planners focused on eliminating as much of the waste as possible before sending it to a landfill and tub grading is becoming an increasingly popular method at demolition sites.
“Basically, very little is going to the landfill,” said Day. “To me, this is the way of the future. Companies will come get that mulch, color it and reuse it. It saves our landfill. The only thing that we’re having to take to the landfill is we’re having to pull some of this rubber membrane off the roof that we really can’t grind.”
Landfill fees run as much as $45 a ton, Day said, adding as much as $150,000 to the project. Taking time to sort through and grind the debris added a little time to the project, but demolition remains on schedule despite heavy rains over the past week.
“We hope to save the landfill by doing this,” Day said. “Some demolition companies would just come in here with huge trailers, load up all this stuff and shoot it up to the landfill. The landfill would also have a pile of stuff that they’re just burying. We’re spreading it out over an area and rolling it. Eventually it will just decay or be turned into potting soil or whatever.”
HCS also played a big part in reducing the amount of waste from the school. Employees visited the site numerous times and stripped away as much as they could for other district school projects.
“I will give the highest compliment to our Harnett County School Board,” said Day. “They have done a good job of getting everything out of this school. They came in here and really took out everything that they thought they could use at other schools as far as breakers, desks, filing cabinets. They didn’t just leave it in there and call it trash and not worry about it. They’ve done a good job of having their employees leave very little behind.”
Citizens wanting a piece of the old school paid frequent visits to the campus since demolition started last month. From bleachers to bricks, people expressed interest in taking something home from a school that created memories for generations of students.
In an effort to meet the growing need for mementos, Day said a pile of bricks from the school is available free of charge for as long as supplies last. Designers of the new school requested a few thousand bricks for a special project, but there are plenty left over for the general public.
“We’ve had hundreds of people stop by just wanting a brick,” said Day. “We’ve let people come up here and get what they wanted, but we’ve stopped that now because we’re at the point where it’s a little bit dangerous to have people up here. The bricks will be there.”
Day left a brick pile in the small parking lot on the Denim Drive side of the campus.
Eliot Duke can be reached at eduke@mydailyrecord.com or at 910-230-2038.
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