Independence Excavating performed a unique project for the North East Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). The district had six solid waste digester vessels that needed to be demolished and removed completely to make way for a new incinerator facility. This work in itself is commonplace but before the work could be performed Independence had to scan and load 15,000 CY of Cobalt 60 contaminated digested solid waste.

Work began by installing lay down areas, and removing portions of the structure to gain access. During that time the Independence team created an in-house solution to scanning the sludge to a thickness of no more than 4” to verify that no radioactive particles were present. Several ideas were entertained however, our project team along with our heavy equipment shop fabricated a custom conveyor and mixer with auger creating the best solution to remove the material quickly and maintain the proper speed, depth and monitoring for radiation.