In December 2012, PIKA International awarded Independence Demoilition a contract to remediate soil at a future hospital construction site in Fort Irwin, California. The remediated soil was contaminated with potentially explosive remains from military training operations at the fort which is located in the Mojave Desert.
The work included excavating a 15 acre site to a depth of approximately 12” and hauling the soil to a staging area where it was tested for any explosive content. The excavation was performed utilizing “hardened” excavators, which means they were shielded with .75” thick plexiglass on the floor, ceiling, and sides for operator protection. The excavators were equipped with extra-long reach arms to keep the operators a minimum of 30’ from the excavated material at all times. Excavated material was loaded into off road trucks and hauled to a staging area. Drivers needed to keep a minimum distance of 288’ from the dump trucks during loading and dumping operations so dump trucks were unloaded using remote dumping mechanisms.
