W.E. O'Neil's Lean Approach to Demolition

W.E. O’Neil is currently completing the demolition of the old 800,000 SF Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Utilizing a very innovative and green approach, 100% of the 27,000 cubic yards of concrete removed from the existing structures will be reprocessed on site and used as back fill on the existing site. In addition, 97% of the other materials have been recycled, including the steel.

Crushing and reusing this material eliminates approximately 12,000 trucks from entering and exiting the site. This approach alleviates neighborhood road congestion and noise, which is very important to the surrounding community. It also minimizes fuel and trucking costs and reduces the duration of the demolition work by several months.

A significant amount of the material has been diverted from landfills, resulting in environmental benefits, minimal neighborhood disruption and cost and schedule reductions.

Development Partners: Hines/McCaffery Interests
General Contractor: W.E. O’Neil Construction
Demolition Contractor: Omega Demolition Corporation