Southern Alberta Institute Of Technology

Overview

Abatement and Demolition of Former Owasina Hall Residence

QM Environmental was selected to complete the abatement and demolition of a 23-storey high rise building near downtown Calgary, surrounded on all sides by residential areas and high traffic road ways.

The building, formerly referred to as Owasina Hall, was a SAIT landmark for over 40 years, though it stopped functioning as a residence in 2006. In its most recent years, the building served as a tactical training ground for Calgary Police Services, with its significant height offering an excellent location for rappelling drills.

QM utilized an integrated services approach that combined our demolition and hazardous materials abatement teams to execute the work. Upon mobilization, eight mast climbers were installed to gain access to all sides of the building reaching the full height of the building (+200 feet).

An Integrated Approach

Under the contract, QM performed the following services, among others:

Abatement

- It was discovered that there was mastic used to affix insulation behind the brick on the exterior walls.
- In order to abate, the facade brick needed to be removed by hand and the mastic abated from the inside.
- Approximately 750T of brick was cleaned and recycled, and 90,000kg of asbestos was land filled.

Demolition

- Robotic Brokk excavators were floated to the top floor to demolish the floors from top down using the elevator shaft as a rubble disposal method to the main floor.
- After each floor was demolished, the mast climbers needed to be removed down to the next floor and decked in for protection from falling debris.
- A combination of skid steers and heavy equipment further removed the material from the building for recycle.
- Once the 5th floor was reached, a 45T excavator was mobilized to complete the demolition from the ground.
- Over 95% of the building materials were recycled, including +9000T of concrete.

Results

QM’s ability to be flexible and accommodate design changes while maintaining promised construction schedule, proved to be a strong asset to the client.