The Northern Virginia Daily

Article date: September 17, 2005

Ready to Blow

Avtex building set to implode, but cleanup project will last one year

 By William C. Flook

Standing on naked steel legs, the boiler house at the Avtex Superfund site is just about ready for Monday’s implosion.

Crews from Maryland-based CDI and Associates, a subcontractor performing the implosion of the approximately 120 foot tall structure will work throughout the weekend to rig the rest of the explosive charges, said Thomas J. Doud, the firm’s project superintendent.

In truth, the entire structure will not be completely flattened Monday, he said.  The charges will only reduce the building to about the height of the adjacent turbine building, he said.  In order to completely implode the boiler house, workers would need to remove the original boilers and coal hoppers, which would take too long and cost too much, Doud said.

“Buildings are like people, they all have their own personalities,” he said.  “Each building presents its own circumstances.

The charges are being set on the ground level, second level, and third level, Doud Said.  They will also be set along the fourth level in order to separate the boiler house from the turbine building.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which has already demolished 46 structures at the Superfund site, is responsible for the project.  Roger Griffith, quality assurance representative for the corps, said he expects about 45 or 50 feet of the building to “drop out of sight” after the implosion.

The main contractor, Baltimore-based C&R Environmental Associates, Inc., will be responsible for bringing down the rest of the boiler house and shorter adjacent structures.  They will also be removing or recycling the rubble generated by the implosion, according to Ron Feather senior field superintendent for C&R.  That process should be finished within a year he said.

Before the implosion, CDI will have set 150 pounds of explosives at 340 points throughout the structure, Doud said.  No areas off the site will need to be cordoned off, he said, though onlookers will not be allowed to pass within a 1,000 foot radius of the building.

The event is set for Monday at 3 p.m., with an hour long ceremony at the former Avtex Fibers Administration Building at 400 Kendrick Lane beforehand.  It is open to the public.

Officials have touted the boiler house’s demolition as a major turning point for the approximately 440-acre site, which formerly housed the world’s largest rayon plant.  The land is slated to become a 160-acre business park, a 240-acre conservancy park, and a 30-acre soccer complex.

Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, will hit a symbolic plunger to coincide with the actual implosion being set off from a different location.  Soon after, a series of initial blasts will go off, followed by the primary explosions after a several-second pause, Doud said.

Essentially , the only factors that could delay the implosion would be lightning or an overly cloud cover, Doud said.