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Concrete, bricks from Quadrangle C, D reused, recycled

by Christine von Kolnitz
Recycling
Yes, that’s right. When MUSC tore down Quadrangle C and D buildings, most of the materials were recycled or reused. 

Quadrangle D building was built in 1913 and Quadrangle C building was built in 1939. They served as research, classroom, and office space. 

In 2001, the decision was made to tear down the buildings to make way for the new Hollings Cancer Institute expansion. The new building will house research, clinical areas, and offices.

Once the old buildings were stripped down to bare walls and ceilings, the leftovers included concrete, steel, brick, and miscellaneous construction debris. MB Kahn contracted with Action Disposal to oversee the structural demolition. You may have noticed a man in a big yellow machine called a track hoe.   This machine has a big grabbing arm with a dinosaur like mouth or bucket that can pick up large, long and awkward pieces of just about anything and transfer this material to piles, trucks or dumpsters. In this case, the track hoe helped tear down and transfer 236.91 tons of steel, 450.71 tons of concrete, 1,748 tons of brick and 578.88 tons of miscellaneous construction debris to waiting trucks or dumpsters. That’s right, for those of you that were betting on the weight of the buildings, Quadrangle C and D actually weighed 3,014.49 tons. 

The Steel Recycling Institute claims that steel is the number one recycled material in North America. The overall recycling rate for steel is 64 percent. There are two processes for making steel. 

The first is Basic Oxygen Furnace processing, which is used to produce the steel needed for packaging, car bodies, appliances and steel framing, it uses a minimum of 25 percent recycled steel. The second is Electric Arc Furnace processing, which is used to produce steel shapes such as railroad ties and bridge spans, it uses virtually 100 percent recycled steel. 

Each year, steel recycling saves the energy equivalent to electrically power about one-fifth of the households in the United States (or about 18 million homes) for one year.  And every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone. 

Concrete is made up of cement, water and aggregate, such as crushed stone, sand or grit. Recycling concrete reduces the need to mine new materials.  The concrete was taken to Sanders Brothers Construction. Mixed with cement, crushed concrete can be used for projects that call for cement stabilized base. This recycled material is less expensive than the crushed rock alternatives, and it helps preserve the environment. Larger pieces of crushed concrete can be used as rip rap or 3” to 5” bull rock. The brick was taken to Berkeley County Landfill where it was crushed to make roadbed material around the landfill. Brick can also be reused when recycled as whole brick. 

By recycling the steel, brick and concrete from Quadrangle C and D buildings MUSC saved the equivalent of 296 tons of iron ore, 166 tons of coal and 14 tons of limestone. 

A total of about 8,529 BTUs of energy was saved, enough energy to power nearly 84 homes for one year. 

MUSC reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 118 metric tons of carbon equivalent. We also reduced overall air emissions by 7 tons excluding CO2 and methane or 294 tons including CO2 and methane and reduce waterborne waste by 1.1 tons.
 

Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.