Sequel to the Watertanks - Page 2

In addition to radiation, asbestos could be a problem. Older buildings and factories often used asbestos as pipe insulation, among other things. Sometimes, even the entire boiler can be wrapped in the stuff

Too bad I don't live in the area. That sounds like an awesome opportunity. Good luck, and take lots of pictures.

Thank you to all for your ideas and insights. The size of the project may seem like the gift, but to the contrary the real gift is the options I have been given if I decide to pursue it. I have the option to serve as a consultant, supervisor, or scrap the entire plant. I have the option to scrap specific items of my choice and be done. I can not risk my money because of the stage I am in my life. Same thing goes for liability. I have nothing to loose, and everything to gain.

So far all I have done is tour the facility and offered some insights. No money has exchanged hands, no contracts signed, and I have time to make a proposal. That is what I am doing with the ideas from the forum. I want to offer the most cost effective strategy to the owner. I have already offered the ideas of shipping via the railroad to the coasts or larger dealers, building chutes from the top floors to ground level using the steel already in the building, stockpiling the steel and sorting it around the facility until we are ready to load cars, the possibility of radiation was discussed with the demolition foreman and a phone call to the owner to reinforce the importance have been offered. We discussed donations to local schools, but a foundation has already been set up for charity. It was also pointed out that if he hired a demolition company to do it, they would bid the demolition and keep all the steel. All of this was done Friday.

The corporation and owner have their own construction crews, subcontractors, lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, etc. They have everything they need to complete the project. Therefore they do not need me, but I could make them some more money. The reason I can is because of the contacts on this forum and my local scrap yard. At this point I have offered enough information that they could break even and they could drop me in an instant. If they do I will be out my transportation and housing for the trip. The amount I learned from the trip far outweighs the cost, so I come out on top regardless. The reason I asked the forum if anyone was interested is because if this pans out I can help members of the forum and the owners by offering names of skilled scrappers, entities to scrap motors and electrical panels, and contacts for future projects.

The demolition and scrapping of the facility is a small part for the owner. His real business is something else and if he can save money on this project he can apply it else where in his plans. This may seem like a whale of a project, but I am only a minnow in the ocean. This is not the only scrap jobs he has, but it is a priority at the moment.

The owner took time out of his busy schedule Friday to give me a tour of the facility, tours of his projects, and sat down one on one with me. I was humbled a man like this would take the time to visit with a scrapper, introduce a scrapper to members of his family, and introduced me to his construction superintendent, realtor, and demolition foreman. I think he would have spent more time with me, but he had volunteered for a community event and this takes priority over his business ventures. After we finished visiting he sent me to meet his demolition foreman at another project. The pictures below are less than 1/3 of the scrap I saw in this project. I am offering this to members of the forum. I can help with transportation. If you are interested, pm me.

Based on the ethics, morals, and values of the individual I met Friday, this is a blessing. I can learn so much about business, scrapping, and life in general from him. Because of his honesty, I do not think he will dump me in the name of money. If I am wrong, I am still a winner in this endeavor. Thank you for your help.

Here are the pictures of scrap from another project with the same individual. If you are interested, pm me.



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Here are some pictures taken Friday. The first is the cat walk throughout the entire structure. This will be scrapped or sold on the secondary market. Any interest on the forum?



This tank has five inch walls and weighs 50 tons. A square foot equals 200 pds. There are two of these tanks on the top floor of the facility.



This gives you an idea of the weight. The pipe in the background is 10 in.



This shows the side wall of the tank. It was cut because one blew up on the coast and they were investigating the cause and cut pieces from this one.



Just a picture of scrap in an "empty room."



To give you an idea of the size and weight of this project, this pipe was from the water tanks and weighed over one ton. There are two of these on the trailer. Although you can not see it in the empty room picture, there is more than 20 of these in there. Now you can look back at the pictures of the other scrap project and get an idea of the weight of the valves. These valves have brass in them.



The will be tons of I-beams etc. from the project, if anyone is interested. Some may have thought I was blowing smoke when I said 5,000 tons. I think this is very conservative and should be more than double that amount. Maybe I will start a contest on the forum guessing the weight and sex of this baby.

Thanks Gravitar. I needed the laugh. Matt, that is a great idea. I am always looking for the next adventure. Scrap price and fuel might get delivered to the doorstep. I also want to point out the reason I have time to post today, it is cold outside. The high today is - 15 and the windchill this afternoon is to hit - 55. This is nothing compared to what Minn. is suppose to get.

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

Someone knowledgeable about refining made a comment about having #2 copper refined instead of selling it if you have enough. Don't remember who it was, put its somewhere on the forum. They said the trace silver and other stuff could be worth more than the copper.

I would assume this if more for plumbing copper than electrical, but not sure.

generally any first use copper has the good stuff in it. it's only when it is scrapped does it become cost effective to remove precious metals... in volume as you stated