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Monday |
| Sometimes the Seattle
RE
Store field crew will go pretty far out of
its way to do a worthwhile salvage job. Lately we've been spending at least one night a week down in Lacey, WA, 90 minutes southwest of Seattle. It's cheaper and more efficient to stay down there rather than fight the traffic back and forth every day. We're salvaging Saint Martin's University's 3,000+ seat NCAA arena, a 34-section bleacher set built in 1968. There's about 4 miles of good fir boards comprising the benches, footboards, and risers, each 16 - 20 feet long, plus a couple hundred sheets of varnished plywood backing on the mezzanine. On average, it takes 4 people 3 hours to disassemble, load out, and clean up a single section. Disassembly entails loosening hundreds of nuts, removing the boards, prying out bolts, and then taking down the sturdy and very heavy steel framework. Some of the boards are clad with masonite on both sides. Those are going to a mill to have one side skinned to expose raw wood and add value. The steel is tossed--loudly--into a 20-foot metal bin to be scrapped. We'll probably fill a dozen bins, each holding several tons of steel to be recycled. It's heavy, repetitive work. The bleachers are being replaced by a plastic, motorized set. Lighter and easier to operate, I wonder how much, if any of it, will find a second life after it wears out. Maybe by then good plastic will be as scarce as good wood is today. |
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