Project Scope:

The Google Spruce Goose, a historical site where the legendary Spruce Goose plane was built by Howard Hughes, consisted of 285,000 square feet of buildings and structures located on a 13-acre site. AMPCO was contracted to complete the abatement of the interior lead paint and asbestos-containing materials, salvage of historical wood structural components and selective demolition of building components, building slab and subgrade foundations throughout the facility to prepare the existing structures for a new Google offices campus.

Means and Methods:

The interior lead paint abatement consisted of over 1 million sqft of painted interior historical wood surfaces, working at 75-foot heights at the apex of the two main hangar buildings, using wet-blasting means and methods while under a negatively pressurized full containment.

The asbestos abatement included the removal of 280,000 square feet of asbestos -containing materials, 90% of which was for the stripping of the entire roofing layer from the buildings and the rest including interior drywall and flooring materials, using wet removal methods while under a negatively pressurized full containment.

The demolition consisted of the careful removal and salvage of the interior structure called “The Spine,” consisting of 125,000 square feet of historical wood, using hand labor and tools, while working from aerial lifts.

The demolition also consisted of the removal of the interior building slab totaling 185,000 square feet and the subgrade structures including footings, grade beams, caissons and utility vaults, using excavators, loaders, and other heavy demolition equipment. All concrete debris from the building slab and subgrade structures was crushed and stockpiled onsite for reuse by the grading subcontractor.

Challenges Faced:

The interior lead paint abatement, using wet-blasting methods, was particularly challenging in that the Client approved a certain finish of the existing historical wood after the wet-blasting was completed, so great care and workmanship had to be taken throughout the entire work process to ensure that the finish product of the blasted historical wood would meet the Client’s specifications. In addition, the Client’s schedule was very aggressive, so AMPCO employed a 24-hour work schedule Monday-Saturday over a 4-month time period to meet the project schedule. Furthermore, the sheer size of the buildings was a challenge to contain. Over 5,000,000 cubic feet of space had to be fully contained and negatively pressurized in 2 separate phases to complete this abatement work per the local, state and federal rules and regulations.

The removal and salvage of the historical wood finish and structural components from “The Spine” interior structure was a challenge in that all of the wood components were to be removed in a careful manner to preserve their finish and structural integrity so that they could be re-purposed and used in the new construction of the Google Spruce Goose offices campus. Great care, workmanship and quality control was essential in completing this task per the Client’s expectations.