TOP STORY>>Green acres: Little Rock saves, recycles while renovating land

By Staff Sgt. Jacob Barreiro
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Seventy-seven acres of real estate on Little Rock Air Force Base including more than 200 vacant old housing units, are being excavated and removed with a long-term goal of using the land for the community with facilities like schools, playgrounds or sports parks.

Officials from the 19th Civil Engineer Squadron engineering flight said proposals for using the acreage post-demolition aren’t concrete, but the methods of removing the materials and clearing the land will save the Air Force money and be friendlier to the environment.

The process of taking the land from laden with old infrastructure and all of its materials to a green pasture would normally cost the Air Force, and its contractors, plenty of money. For this project, the Air Force used a selective demolition plan, a nontraditional way of excavating land that aims to recycle/reuse materials, diverting costs of transportation and other fees customary in a demolition project.

So far the project has been a resounding success, said Michael Boyle, the 19th CES chief of engineering.

“We’ve saved 40 percent more money than we would have doing the demolition the traditional way,” he said.

A big part of the savings comes from something called cost diversion, said Dave Wagler, the 19th CES project manager. A big chunk of the cost diversion comes from reusing materials, like asphalt, glass and wood, that would otherwise be sent to a landfill, at a cost.

“Our goal is to get a lot of these materials away from the landfill,” said Wagler. “CES is tearing down a lot of structures, and that makes for a lot of scraps or materials. Just getting a dump truck to transport a load full of materials can run anywhere from $400-600. We’re saving lots of money by recycling, and it shows our commitment to the environment.”

On top of the money saved by diverting costs for transporting the large amounts of asphalt and roof shingles that will be demolished, there will also be approximately 80 workers from Habitat for Humanity who will remove scraps from the old buildings, such as the glass from windows, to be reused on future houses, saving the Air Force money and donating to a humanitarian cause.

The money saved is an appealing part of the project, said Boyle. However, the end goal of it is to give something to the community on and around base.

“The goal is for the community to get a product,” he said. “Right now nothing is concrete, but the goal is for the area to become community related area.”

What “community related area” means could range from school buildings, a new consolidated education center or new facilities for the charter school on base, to any number of recreational amenities like soccer fields, splash parks, play grounds or jungle gyms. Boyle said there is more than enough room for many of these proposed ideas to be erected.

“Seventy-seven acres is a lot to play with,” he said. “It’s our goal to renovate this area and give it back to the community.”