I’m sure much of Kiewit’s effort to keep the job site clean and environmentally sound is governed by regulation. However, it feels like they may be going beyond simple compliance with rules. In fact, I sense a compulsion for neatness and cleanliness. Here are some of my observations over the past couple of weeks and learning from my meeting this morning with Hunter Sydnor who is Kiewit’s Public Information Officer.
Scrap materials are sorted by type and recycled. In this picture, you can see four of the seven dumpsters containing materials headed for the recycling plant.
As you saw in Update #4, the granite sidewalk is being removed along 16th Street and is being stacked on pallets. Each stone has been labeled with the “address” of its place in the sidewalk. As of this morning, nearly all of the granite, along with the familiar flower pots, trash cans and benches have been staged for removal to a nearby staging area. They will be stored until that part of 16th Street is reassembled using the same granite slabs in a couple of years or so.
Controlling dust appears to be a top priority. This street sweeper runs constantly for nine hours day up and down the two remaining blocks of Chestnut Street, one block of 18th Street, and three blocks of Wewatta Street. The goal is to pick up dirt left behind by the departing dump trucks. On Friday, I was walking on 18th Street, approaching the new Union Gateway Bridge when I saw a Kiewit employee with a broom sweeping a sidewalk where nobody walks, on a street where nobody drives. But the wind would find the dirt and blow it around the neighborhood if he hadn’t swept it.
Similarly, this yellow truck sprays water on the open dirt areas of the project to keep dust from blowing. On a windy day last week, I noticed construction workers shielding theirs eyes from a passing dirt devil. The spray truck on was the spot within a minute. Even with construction at a complete standstill over the Easter weekend, the spray truck was at work each day keeping the neighborhood free of dust.
In Update #3 about water systems, I mentioned that 10 dewatering wells pump ground water into the storm sewer. Here’s a picture of the filtration tanks that ensure the water is clean before it heads for the river.
Since this is a transportation project, it is unconventional from the perspective of LEED Certification which is oriented to upright building structures. In spite of that, the Kiewit Western Construction Company is attempting to gain LEED Certification for its work at Union Station with help from its sister organization, the Kiewit Building Group (commercial buildings) which also has an office in Denver. Much of what I mentioned above is part of that effort.
I promised an answer to your questions about bad dirt. I can tell you that the dirt is contaminated with coal dust. No surprise, since the area was a rail yard for well over 100 years. I still do not know exactly what is being done with the dirt, but I will work to find out.
Finally, I’ll share my favorite cleanliness story to date. On the same windy day that I mentioned above, a worker climbed out of his front-end loader just as a piece of litter blew past his leg. The wind carried it for 30-40 feet with him in hot pursuit. He picked it up, stuffed it in his pocket, and went on his way … to lunch, I think.
That’s really encouraging to hear how consciousness the construction crew has been. It’s unusual and refreshing, some construction sites you see are littered with trash and spare materials. It seems appropriate to keep the site so neat considering it is the most important project in the city/region.
I tip my hat to Kiewit. ‘A’ for effort and implementation.
I notice that underneath the 16th Street granite panels there’s sand underneath–as if, all along, their placement there was planned to be temporary until new construction came along. I wonder if when they’re re-laid they’ll be over concrete, installed permanently.
My only gripe is that you didn’t get a photograph catching this worker in action chasing down this piece of litter. 😉
It’s impressive to see the great care Kiewit is taking to maintain such a clean and environmentally conscious work site. Well done!
Okay I’m sure I’ll get blasted for this comment. I think the “over the top” approach to some of these large development efforts (e.g. The obsessiveness with cleaniness and dust, etc.) is part of the reason these projects cost a massive amount of $$$.
There should be a reality check here. This is spending taxpayer $$ correct? Isn’t RTD planning to propose a 2nd tax hike to cover the shortfall on FastTracks?
At present I will not vote for the tax increase. Especially when I see details of inefficiencies already in the current initiatives.
Taxpayers are the constituents and the $$ should be spent in the most efficient and effective manner.
CC, you raise a good point, and you have given me an idea for a future blog. In addition to noticing the cleanliness compulsion, I’ve seen similar attention to efficiency. I’ll attempt to compare the two in a future post.
The taxpayers also benefit from practices that are environmentally sound and friendly to the neighborhood. As a taxpayer, I would be appalled if either of these principles was abandoned in a taxpayer-funded project.
@cc – You could look at it like this: Kiewit’s “over the top” approach probably saves money in the long run by reducing other unseen costs of the project. Sorting materials to be recycled or reused may recoup some money if they are sold. Hauling materials like plastics and chemicals off to the land fill will only cost more money in the future to clean them up.
A large amount of dirt blowing around (and off of) the site has some hidden costs too. If Kiewit doesn’t clean it up, someone else will have to. Not only that, but it could cause health problems to someone with respiratory problems.
Just because it costs more to do the right thing, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t. More money spent now to do things correctly probably translates in to less money spent in the future to fix mistakes.
That is a refreshing story to hear! Good work by Kiewit, making Denverites across the world proud.