Alpine Environmental Assists with Lead Safe Renovations

February 23, 2012

Groton, MA – When two residences at Lawrence Academy were scheduled for major renovations, safely dealing with lead paint was a concern for both the school and C.E. Floyd Company, the general contractor. Bigelow Hall and the Dr. Green House were both built in the mid-1800’s, and as is typical with homes of that era, lead paint was present on much of the woodwork.

Groton, MA – When two residences at Lawrence Academy were scheduled for major renovations, safely dealing with lead paint was a concern for both the school and C.E. Floyd Company, the general contractor.  Bigelow Hall and the Dr. Green House were both built in the mid-1800’s, and as is typical with homes of that era, lead paint was present on much of the woodwork.

Alpine Environmental was brought on board to scrape and sand the lead painted exteriors in preparation for repainting, perform selective demolition of lead painted components and prepare window openings for installation of window replacements by the GC.

These are residences for students and faculty, so careful containment and cleanup of the lead dust generated during these activities was essential.  To save both time and money, Alpine used the scaffolding that was already in place for the other trades as the framework for the environmental barrier walls.

Both projects required Alpine to work in close coordination with C. E. Floyd since multiple trades were involved and the project was on a tight schedule in order to be completed in time for returning students.  Environmental regulations mandate that other trades cannot work in the immediate area where lead paint work is being performed, so creative scheduling and flexibility were needed to prevent project delays.  Environmental containments were erected daily, and all work in the contained areas was completed when planned to prevent any schedule impact on other trades.  The completed buildings provide four faculty apartments and dorm rooms for 32 students.

Lawrence Academy has 400 students and is located on a pastoral 100 acre campus in Groton.  The 39 buildings on campus include some spectacular examples of Federalist homes and Georgian academic buildings.  The school was founded in 1792 as the Groton Academy by Samuel Lawrence.