Sunshine State Success

December 09, 2025

In addition to believing that every project they undertake is a part of a larger picture, much of the appeal of being a demolition contractor is the broad range of projects a company can be called upon to tackle. Structures of every shape, size and construction, and projects with differing levels of simplicity or complexity, make for a challenging — but rewarding — career. One that fits the “unique and challenging” category, a massive alternative energy decommissioning project in Florida, has been on NDA member Jackson Demolition’s docket since spring 2024. While ideally suited for projects of that type and scope, the Schenectady, New York-based company nevertheless upped its game with the purchase of a new demo attachment. The result of that purchase was a dramatic reduction in per-structure processing time and a far more efficient workflow. A bright outcome, for sure.

Jackson’s Roots

The job Jackson Demolition is undertaking, an alternative energy production site that is being decommissioned, is massive, covering an area larger than several hundred football fields. After removing the above-ground components of the site, Jackson’s team had to focus on the subgrade footings, which numbered in the thousands. When complete, the project will yield some impressive volumes of material, nearly all of which will be recycled. According to Chris Jackson, the company’s lead operator/superintendent, while the project is the first of its type they’ve done, it is still right in their wheelhouse.

“We are a family-owned and operated business and have been since being founded in 1949,” he says. “When the company was started by my uncle and my father, they focused on tree work and only had an old Ford truck and an even older crane. But when my dad, ‘Sandy’ Jackson, took over later, he really moved the company forward and made us what we are now: a full-service demolition company with a focus on industrial demolition and asset recovery.”

Today, with 150 employees and a formidable fleet of iron, Jackson Demolition works up and down the East Coast and throughout the Southeast, handling a range of demolition projects including power plants, paper mills, petrochemical plants and more, as well as abatement, recycling and the aforementioned asset recovery.

Valued Expertise

The bid to process the thousands of concrete structures contained on the site was, understandably, competitive. However, Jackson Demolition’s reputation for efficiently tackling large projects paid dividends. 

“Our expertise was put into play immediately upon getting on site,” Jackson says. “We were faced with a massive expanse of up-front work that needed to be quickly and safely performed so that the footers and foundation blocks, which extended downward, could be exposed and processed. And our team answered the call.”

To get the production they needed to complete the work in the allotted time, Jackson has about 55 employees on-site, performing a number of different jobs at one time. “One crew is removing the ferrous material, another the nonferrous, another excavates to expose the concrete, another moves the severed concrete blocks and so on. It is a real group effort,” he says.

Solid Support System

Jackson is quick to admit that the concrete facet of the job is by far the one that presented the most challenge. Each base consists of a reinforced concrete footer that extends downward some 4-5 feet, capped off by a concrete block — also heavily reinforced — measuring as large as 5 feet square.

“To process the concrete, we made a specific equipment purchase in advance of the job,” Jackson says. “We reached out to the team from Genesis Attachments and, based on their recommendation, purchased a Genesis GDT 890 Razer Demolition Tool. It is the largest model of that tool Genesis offers, and we knew we would need every bit of it — we have not been disappointed.”

Jackson’s GDT 890 is a demo-designed tool, ideal for use as a concrete processor and demolition shear. The number of crushing teeth and their locations can be customized to meet project needs, and the bolt-on teeth can be interchanged and reversed front to back for longer life and lower cost of operation. Jackson will readily attest to the attachment’s performance. “We’ve been operating it for nine months now, on some challenging concrete structures, without so much as a need to rotate any of the blades,” he says.

Overachiever

As is often the case, changes in approach have occurred since the Genesis Razer came on-site. Jackson’s original intent was to use the tool to cut the pilings located below each concrete block. “We would dig around it on three sides and cut the piling, making the block ready for removal,” he says. “But the Razer was just too fast for that facet of the operation, leaving the operator with a lot of downtime while the blocks were being processed.”

The block processing to which Jackson alludes included first hammering each one with a hydraulic hammer, then using a pulverizer attachment to further downsize the concrete, free up the rebar, etc. That process, they quickly learned, created a logjam in that part of the operation

“It clearly wasn’t working,” Jackson says. “So, we crushed a few blocks using the Razer and found that it both downsized the concrete and freed up about 85% of the bar inside. But the real compelling fact was time: the previous method — using two machines and not getting it anywhere near as clean — took about eight minutes per block. By comparison, the Genesis Razer got us to where we need to be with each block in about 45 seconds. Once we made the move, our production soared. That attachment is just a beast.”

The Recovery Effort

One of Jackson Demolition’s key strengths is a commitment to recycling as much material as possible from each project they undertake, and the solar project was no exception, according to Chris Stradtman, the company’s project manager.

“We have been aggressive about recycling everything we can out here,” he says. As a result, by project’s end, we will have recovered and recycled about 8,000 tons of ferrous material and 7,000 tons of nonferrous — all of which is being taken to a local scrap recycler. In addition, we will recover more than 30,000 cubic yards of concrete, which will be used on-site to make it ready for redevelopment.

The project, which started in spring 2024, is slated to be completed within an 11-month period. According to Jackson, that deadline will be more than doable, largely because of the production they are now getting with the Genesis Razer.

“We have been Genesis users for a long time now; we probably have close to a dozen of their attachments in our fleet companywide,” he says. “We like the fact that the company is always striving to create solutions geared toward making the work of contractors like us better. This job, which could have been a real challenge, is instead a textbook success story for us. The team we have out here deserves a whole lot of the credit, but there’s no denying the impact that attachment has made for us. It’s been a big part of our success.”