PROJECT: Former Schaefer Brewing Malting Facility - Buffalo, NY
VALUE: $1,259,718
CONTACT: Larry Schiavone - City of Buffalo
DESCRIPTION: Built by the Meyers Malting Co. in 1914 and sold to Schaefer Brewing in 1961, this facility was located on the Westside of Buffalo, NY. This malting facility has been vacant for the past 15 years and was in a state of structural collapse. The City of Buffalo ordered an emergency demolition of the building and contracted with Sabre Demolition to complete the project. Due to the lack of structural integrity inside the building asbestos containing materials could not be remove prior to demolition, so the State of New York granted a variance to the City of Buffalo for the building to be demolished with the asbestos intact. All asbestos contaminated debris was hauled to a landfill permitted to accept asbestos containing debris. The remaining concrete, brick and steel was hauled off site for recycling. The malting facility part, about 75,000 square feet, was constructed of a structural steel frame, concrete floors and brick walls. This was demolished with a High-Reach Excavator able to reach over 85 feet high. A 100 foot by 20 foot by 3 stories section had to be demolished by hand due to the adjacent structure that was in use. The 15 grain elevators and head house were constructed of poured concrete with heavy re-bar. The top of the head house was 130 feet above grade. This portion of the structure was demolished using a conventional crane and wrecking ball to get the structure down to less than 85 feet in height so the High-Reach Excavator equipped with a concrete pulverizer could demolish and process the remaining concrete for shipment offsite to a asbestos landfill due to the asbestos containing paint on the exterior of the elevators. All while the facility was being demolished SDC utilized a Dust Boss water misting machine to control the demolition dust. While demolishing the elevators and head house a CSX Railroad flagman was present, since the structure was less than 30 feet from the tracks. No debris landed near the active tracks.
