Demolition of the Kress Building in downtown Texarkana is on schedule despite recent weather delays and unexpected work that must be done by hand.
The work should be completed by Oct. 1, meeting the project's contractual time limit, said Larry Snodgrass, president of Tyler, Texas-based ERI Consulting Inc.
Snodgrass consulted with the City of Texarkana, Texas-the building's owner-on planning the project and is overseeing the work.
"They've been diligent and careful, and we're pleased thus far," Snodgrass said of demolition contractor Gator Industrial of Joplin, Mo.
Crews began removing debris from the building's basement on Tuesday, "a significant milestone" for the project, Snodgrass said. Workers are loading debris into a crane bucket, which is then emptied into a trash bin provided by Waste Management Inc.
"We started on the front. We've still got some work that needs to be done on the back, but we anticipate that we'll also be able to bring some debris out of the back," as well, Snodgrass said.
Removing some bricks at the site is manual work that has added seven to 10 days to the project.
"We've got brick courses encasing some of the vertical steel where the steel has to be removed, so the contractor's having to remove those casements by hand in order to cut the steel," Snodgrass said, adding that close quarters limit how many crew members can do the work at once.
"When you're doing hand methods in that small (of) an area, there's not too many more people that you could utilize, especially when most of that work is being done from man-buckets off of cranes. So there's only so many workers you can get in that space."
The wet weather in August also has caused some minor delays. Yet, rain is less of a concern than lightning.
"With crane work, when you get lightning within a few miles, you've got to get your people out of there. A little light rain doesn't hurt us, but you get lightning crackling, then you've got to do something different," Snodgrass said.
The project began May 15, and at least one lane of traffic on East Broad Street in front of the site has been closed since. Workers have salvaged many of the glazed terra cotta tiles that adorned the building's facade, as well as enough of the building's canopy that it could be accurately restored.
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