Feasibility of using building deconstruction at Wisconsin’s Badger Army Ammunition Plant : salvaging lumber for reuse in low-income home construction

Abstract

The buildings at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) were built in the early years of World War II wholly or partially from wood. The standing timber in these and other military structures is some of the last remaining of our Nation’s once vast old-growth forests. A collaborative effort of government, university, military, and community groups was organized to evaluate the feasibility of using wood-framed building deconstruction at the BAAP to salvage these materials for resale and reuse. Deconstruction is a building dismantlement method based on the separation and recovery of building materials and components for reuse and recycling. Results of this study indicate that the buildings at BAAP contain a wealth of lumber suitable for recovery and reuse. We conclude that nearly 200 wood-framed buildings can be deconstructed immediately and could yield over 4 million board feet of recoverable wood products.

Citation

Falk, Robert H. 2005. Feasibility of using building deconstruction at Wisconsin’s Badger Army Ammunition Plant : salvaging lumber for reuse in low-income home construction. Gen. Tech. Rep. FPL-GTR-161. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 35 pages.