LVI Services

Industrial Case Studies

Sunoco Refinery, Philadelphia, PA

Sunoco came to LVI with a demolition and decommissioning project at a Philadelphia refinery. Work began in January 2006 and will run through most of this year. Utilizing LVI’s specialized equipment, the crew is performing asbestos abatement work and removing more than 25,000 linear feet of piping, amidst other equipment in the refinery that is still in use.

Prior to this project, the refinery had never undertaken a demolition of this magnitude, and all other demolition work had been performed by mechanical contractors, which cost the company much more because of the methods employed.

LVI’s skilled operators have worked more than 50,000 man hours on this project without a single OSHA recordable incident or regulatory compliance violation.

Major planning has been required throughout the demolition to ensure that everyone on site understands each aspect of the job. Because of the attention to detail and breadth of experience that LVI brings to the table, the project has been extremely successful to date.

BHP Inc. Copper Smelter Smokestack, San Manuel, AZ

Often beginning at sunrise, work at this remote location began in September 2006. The job site, formerly a large copper smelting operation, was mostly demolished except for two stacks. Each of the stacks is 510 feet tall – the equivalent of 50-story buildings – making decontamination before

demolition no small feat.

When thinking of the southwestern U.S., weather delays for a project may seem unlikely. But high winds, lightning and even rain have been the biggest challenges LVI has faced on this job.

To get the work done quickly and effectively, LVI is using its own high-pressure cleaning equipment and an access plan that utilizes mast climbers in lieu of rigging swing stages.

BHP brought in safety experts from as far away as South America to review LVI’s plan of operation, all of whom were impressed with LVI’s on-site management team and the quality of work. Because of the high-risk nature of the work, extreme safety measures were put into place, including arrangements with the Arizona Department of Safety to have a rescue helicopter on site within 10 minutes if required.

PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant, San Francisco, CA

ICONCO/LVI Demolition Services (LVI) is working with TRC Companies, Inc. on the decontamination, decommissioning and demolition of the Hunters Point Power Plant, owned by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in San Francisco.

This multi-year project includes complete asbestos abatement and demolition to grade of four boiler house units containing six boilers; a back-up, jet-fueled turbine; a turbine house; storage tanks; administrative buildings; and six stacks at heights between 200 and 250 feet. The job will be completed by a 60-employee union work force, with 35 percent coming from the local San Francisco community through the mayor’s City Build Academy.

For the demolition work, the company is employing crane and excavator-engineered dismantling methods. Structures are dismantled to approximately 50 feet in height using cranes, after which the remaining portions are mechanically wrecked using excavators outfitted with hydraulic shears.

The project is a major recycling effort. Over a two-year period, the project will generate 25,000 tons of steel, 30,000 tons of concrete and approximately 75,000 gallons of oil for recycling and reuse.

Westinghouse Electric Company, Festus, Missouri

LVI provided all labor, materials and equipment necessary to remove all equipment and components from a hematite plant’s process buildings and to complete the demolition of the buildings to slab. The facility previously converted enriched uranium hexafluoride gas (UFG) into fuel for nuclear reactors.

The project included:

Removal of all equipment and components within the process buildings.
Segregation, shipment and disposal of all associated wastes, including low-level radioactive waste, at Westinghouse-approved disposal facilities. Shipment and disposal was handled by licensed, third-party subcontractors.
Decontamination of radiologically contaminated equipment, components and specified areas, as well as completion of radiological surveys and monitoring necessary to support work activities and demolition of buildings.