Ray Hintz Inc. of Caledonia will be paid $833,960 to deconstruct and recycle 16 residences – an average cost of $52,122 per house – along the Kinnickinnic River between S. 6th and S. 16th streets, under a contract approved Monday by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s commission.

Work is expected to begin in mid-October.

Costs are higher than the estimates of $25,000 to $35,000 for demolition because the district’s deconstruction contract requires the hiring and training of at least 16 local workers in addition to the mandate for recycling 87% of building material, said MMSD Commissioner Ben Gramling of Milwaukee.

No more than 10% of materials can be disposed of in a landfill, under terms of the contract.

“We value putting local people to work and preserving landfill space,” Gramling said.

Hintz was the low bidder, and the contract was approved on a 10-1 vote. Commission Vice Chairman Dale Richards of Oak Creek voted against the contract. He has objected to high costs of recycling in each of the district’s three deconstruction contracts.

The total cost of deconstructing each house in the contract awarded to Hintz includes the following estimates: $3,300 for removing basement walls and the concrete floor slab and $2,100 for filling in the remaining pit; $2,000 for removing a garage concrete floor slab; and $5,500 for asbestos removal.

Since last year, the district has acquired 37 of 83 single-family homes and duplexes targeted for removal as part of a $49.9 million Kinnickinnic River flood-control project. Eight of the residences have been deconstructed under two earlier contracts.

Removing the buildings from the floodplain between S. 6th and S. 16th streets will provide space to widen the stream channel to accommodate greater flood flows and eliminate most flooding of the neighborhood, district officials said.

An additional 19 residences are ready for deconstruction, said Dave Fowler, senior project manager for the district.

In an attempt to reduce costs of future contracts, the commission advised district staff to split the 19 into three groups, according to Gramling.

Deconstruction bids will be solicited for two groups of five residences each. Demolition bids will be solicited for the remaining nine residences as one group.

“This will provide us with better information on costs of both methods as we move into the second half of the removal project,” Gramling said.

via MMSD to pay $833,960 for deconstruction of 16 houses – JSOnline.