Recycling While Constructing concrete piers from the Whittier Bridge

granite from the Former Whittier Bridge in Newburyport, MA

Reducing your footprint while building new sounds like an oxymoron, but thanks to the generosity of the former mayor of Newburyport, Donna Holaday, and the forward-thinking of our team, we were able to recycle hundreds of thousands of pounds of material from the Whittier Bridge project right down the street. The bridge, built in 1954, was held up by concrete piers cased in substantial granite blocks. The granite served a structural purpose and protected the concrete from the ice moving downriver each spring.

granite in place from the Former Whittier Bridge in Newburyport, MA

We could recycle the concrete for our multiple retaining wall systems, just miles from its origin. So far, we have recycled approximately 500 blocks weighing anywhere from 2,500 lbs to 32,000 lbs (three times the size of an elephant)! Along with the blocks, we are also recovering over 6,000 cubic yards of recycled concrete aggregate from the piers we will use as a road base.

Thinking critically at each step of construction to source materials with integrity and as sustainable as possible is in the DNA of this project. We are excited to continue to find opportunities to do so!