Methods

Description of Fort McClellan Barracks

 U.S. Army facility, Ft. McClellan, in Anniston, Alabama, was established in 1917,

with a primary mission of training for combat, a service it fulfilled during World War I,

World War II, and the Vietnam War. This facility was also the home of the Women's

Army Corps School, the U.S. Army Chemical Center and School, the Military Police

School, and the Training Brigade. The base was decommissioned in 1995; and, upon its

official closing on May 20, 1999, it occupied 45,679 acres of land with 100 barracks of

approximately 415 m2 each in need of removal (Fort McClellan 2005). Figure 3-1 shows

a typical row of barracks at Ft. McClellan. They are identical, two-story, wood-frame,

World War II-era barracks similar in typology and construction to thousands of older

barracks found on military installations throughout the United States.

 The barracks in the U.S. EPA Region 4 were typically built with Southern yellow

pine, a strong wood readily available in the Southeast and considered salvageable. Other

components with potential resale value in the barracks include showers, urinals, toilets,

windows, doors, electrical wiring, lighting, emergency exit signs, a brick fireplace, and

the metals associated with the air conditioning ducts and the large structural support

columns. The metals were removed by hand before the demolition of the building, and it

was found that the structural support columns were salvageable under careful demolition

practices.

The Deconstruction Process and Four Scenarios Studied

 The deconstruction and demolition of the barracks were conducted from April-June

of 2003. Personnel involved in this project participated in either a deconstruction team or

an LCA team. The deconstruction team was responsible for hiring a dismantling