Commercial Project Descriptions

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Bank One Plaza, Chicago, Illinois

LVI’s ability to provide an integrated service offering and meet an aggressive time schedule was key to being awarded the contract to perform interior demolition, asbestos abatement and refireproofing work on this major project. The project consisted of:

  • Total interior demolition, asbestos abatement and replacement of structural fireproofing on 19 floors, ranging from 28,000 feet to 46,000 square feet.
  • Simultaneous work on multiple floors requiring upwards of 100 workers per shift.
  • Removal of all interior partition walls and all mechanical, electrical and plumbing components.
  • Removal of an average of 4,800 to 5,500 bags of asbestos-containing fireproofing.

Following interior demolition and asbestos abatement, LVI replaced the structural fireproofing. Several floors required an accelerated around the clock work schedule (at the owner’s request), with multiple crews performing the application  and cleanup activities. As a precaution, extra fireproofing equipment and material remained on site to minimize the possibility of work stoppage resulting from equipment failure. The accelerated schedule also created the condition of dealing with excessive moisture buildup. To address this issue and increase cure time, LVI installed negative air units to both exhaust and circulate air. All floors met or exceeded the schedule requirements. 

Newton Auditorium, Denver, Colorado

LVI performed structural demolition, asbestos abatement and hazardous materials removal in this 80-year-old building, owned by the Denver Historical Society. Because it is a historic property, additional precautions and attention had to be paid to the job.

LVI’s scope of work included:

  • Interior demolition of all concrete post-tension slabs and walls.
  • Proper shoring of the 150,000-pound trusses within the interior ceiling to allow dismantling in sections and avoid the collapse of the exterior perimeter wall.
  • Shoring of the first-floor concrete slab from the basement level, allowing for strategic placement of a 150,000 pound excavator within the building.

Asbestos abatement included 26,600 square feet of asbestos containing plaster, 8,000 square feet of HVAC thermal system insulation, 17,000 square feet of drywall, 6,000 lineal feet of thermal system insulation, 10,000 square feet of spray-applied structural fireproofing, 10,000 square feet of VAT and associated floor mastic.

The remaining asbestos was removed from hidden locations, along with all fluorescent light tubes, mercury vapor bulbs, PCB ballasts, PCB oil-filled transformers, and elevator hydraulic fluids throughout the facility.

Residential High-Rise Building, New York, New York

LVI performed microbial decontamination of more than 400 mold-contaminated, self-contained fan coil units along with associated contaminated drywall for a high-profile, residential high-rise building.

After remediation of critical heat and air-conditioning fan coil units, the units were encapsulated and subsequently reinsulated.

Select apartments with significant mold were fogged and decontaminated using a chemical solution to eliminate elevated spore counts in the air.

Florida Hurricane Recovery

During cleanup and recovery efforts associated with four hurricanes that hit Florida during 2004, LVI rapidly mobilized a workforce that ultimately exceeded 1,200 trained laborers.

Clients included West Florida Hospital and Martin, Escambia, Charlotte and St. Lucie counties.

LVI moved aggressively to redeploy a trained workforce, equipment, building materials, administrative staff and health and safety resources to the area.

Employees from its Tampa office, as well as offices in Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, were dispatched and the teams and worked out of LVI’s newly established command centers located near Fort Myers, Stuart and Pensacola.

The ability to bring all of these resources together was a result of LVI’s unique operating model and experience in responding to Tropical Storm Allison in Houston in 2001 and Supertyphoon Pongsona on Guam in 2002. 

Junipero Serra State Office Building, Los Angeles, California

LVI abated hazardous materials from the Junipero Serra State Office Building consisting of nine floors of offices, a full basement and a penthouse that contained the building mechanical systems. Total area of building is approximately 550,000 square feet.

The work performed included abatement of:

  • Asbestos-containing materials (fireproofing, floor tile/mastic/mechanical systems insulation, roofing systems, plaster and drywall mud).
  • Lead-based paint materials (ceramic tile, paint).
  • Mercury-containing materials (switches, thermostats, and light tubes).
  • Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing materials (lighting ballasts).

Hurricane Katrina Cleanup
Gulf Coast region (New Orleans, LA; Gulfport, MS)

During the initial cleanup along the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, LVI had approximately 2,150 workers on the ground in the Gulf Coast region working on cleanup and restoration projects.

LVI’s work included large-scale cleanup projects at hospitals, hotels, resorts, retail outlets, municipal buildings and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Texas.  Projects were coordinated out of the company’s Houston regional office, and from office and warehouse facilities and mobile Emergency Command Centers located throughout the affected areas, including a new 27,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility in Saint Rose, La., in support of the activities in New Orleans, and Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss. An 8,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility in Port Arthur, Texas, supported the company’s response efforts in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., as well as surrounding areas.

The mobile centers in the field featured computers, satellite phone uplinks, bathroom facilities and biometric time keeping systems, which helped facilitate the personnel and payroll requirements of a mobile work force. The company also deployed its own diesel fuel tanker truck to keep its equipment operating.  To accommodate its work force, the company used 20 mobile sleepers, located just outside New Orleans, to house 840 workers. The sleepers are equipped with their own power sources, air conditioning and heating. 

Aside from the incredible amount of structural damage the areas sustained, of paramount concern to LVI was mold growth due to moisture from the rain, flooding and storm surge, a humid climate, and lack of air conditioning.  LVI worked with its clients to assess the damage to their properties and devise action plans to address the problems in the order that made the most sense to prevent further property damage.

Among the projects that LVI was involved with in New Orleans was demolition and cleanup at the Superdome, including air scrubbing and restoring indoor air quality to acceptable levels. Interior demolition, cleanup and mold remediation was completed for Orleans Parish Independent School District. The company also completed demolition and removal of asbestos-containing materials from properties in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes for the Erath Housing Authority. Mold remediation work was completed at Harrah’s Grand Casino’s Gulf Breeze Tower in Gulfport, Mississippi.