Yannuzzi Demolition & Recycling Takes Operation to Next Level
November 25, 2024
This article was originally published in the November/December 2003 issue of DEMOLITION magazine.
For better than three-quarters of a century, Yannuzzi & Sons, led by John Yannuzzi, has worked hard to rise to its current position as one of the East Coast’s most respected, high-profile demolition and recycling contractors. Maintaining that status — indeed, building upon it — has taken an ongoing push for excellence and an equally firm commitment to innovative equipment purchases. The company’s latest addition to its already impressive demolition inventory is a heavily modified Komatsu PC 750 equipped with a Jewell High Reach boom that puts controlled demolition of 160-foot and taller structures well within reach. A recent project for the Jersey City Housing Authority bears out just how key a role the new tool plays in Yannuzzi’s efforts.
A (Huge) Step Up
The project called for the total demolition of a pair of 14-story concrete and brick structures, a job which, according to Dennis Dannenfelser, Yannuzzi’s operations manager, took on a different light with the high reach capability.
“These buildings were part of a housing project that was being leveled for the Authority,” he says. “In the past, space permitting, demolition of a structure of this height probably would have been done using a crane and a wrecking ball. If the height proved too great for even that approach, we would instead bring in a tower crane, and lower skid-steer loaders onto the roof of the building and work our way downward.
“However, we now have the ideal tool for a project like this. Armed with that 146 feet of combined boom length — and the added 20 feet of telescoping boom length — we were able to easily reach the uppermost point of the building and, using a grapple, start processing. One of the many features built into the Jewell boom is a closed-circuit camera that allows the operator to see exactly what the attachment is processing. As a result, even though it is more than 150 feet away, demolition is still a controlled process — invaluable in a limited-space application such as this.”
Business Development Tool
The decision to purchase the Jewell High Reach was predicated as much on business development as it was on making existing jobs more efficient, says John Yannuzzi, president of the company.
“There’s no arguing that, with this tool, we are far more efficient on-site. On projects like the one in Jersey City, we are essentially able to do the job with just two men rather than a whole team and multiple excavators. However, because we now have this capability, we have positioned ourself as the go-to source for handling these types of demo projects and other work as well. As a result, we are getting calls from not only the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area but also from surrounding states. And that’s really the way it has to be; a capital investment of this size can’t be left sitting around. At this point, we have the high-reach machine booked solid for the next two months, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of that side of the business letting up.”
Consider All the Options
When considering its equipment purchase, John Yannuzzi and other members of his team knew they wanted a tool that would meet a broad range of their needs. The result of maintaining that attitude throughout the design process is a tool that is multifaceted, extremely well-built, designed for operator comfort and safety and extremely functional, says Bruch Skurdahl, Jewell’s director of sales.
“Yannuzzi’s excavator/boom is perhaps the ultimate tool of its kind at work in demolition today,” he says. “It offers a wealth of design traits geared toward its use in the severe demolition environment: high-strength alloy construction, heavy-duty cylinders with guards, a large cross-section boom assembly for maximum torsional strength, and more. However, equally important to Yannuzzi was the operator’s ability to work effectively, his comfort level and his ability to maintain high safety standards. We addressed the first concern by providing wedge-type quick connect for easy swapping of attachments. Then, in addition to a Jewell extreme duty bucket and linkage style hydraulic thumb, we provided an articulating 360-degree continuous rotation demolition grapple that features both 3 and 4 bypass arms and bolt-on basket arms for handling loose material.
Operator comfort is enhanced through a cab positioning system that lifts to a height of 7 feet and tilts back as much as 35 degrees. Yannuzzi’s machine features a pair of closed-circuit color TV systems: the attachment-view system mentioned above and another location on the machine’s counterweights to allow the operator a clear view of the rear of the machine. Both systems are viewed on a cab-mounted 6.8-inch flat panel monitor. Additionally, a “surround sound” system allows the operator to hear exterior sounds, even with the unit at full throttle. Safety issues are addressed in every possible area of design and construction, from the lock valve-equipped boom cylinders to hold the boom up even in the event of a hose failure to a cab-mounted range alarm that alerts the operator when he is approaching an out-of-range condition, to the heavy-duty FOPS guard and extra thick laminated glass on the front and top of the cab.
Fighting Fire With Innovation
While all these options have dramatically enhanced Yannuzzi’s ability to tackle a broader range of demolition projects, one feature, in particular, has taken the company in a totally new direction.
“The boom on this machine has been fitted with a high-performance, dual-nozzle water system,” says John Yannuzzi. “With a flow of anywhere from 0-400 gallons per minute (gpm), this machine can release a mist at 5 to 10 gpm for dust suppression or can max it at 400 gpm at 150 psi, at which point it becomes a bona fide fire-fighting apparatus. To date, we have provided assistance to fire departments in Newark, New Jersey, and New York City and have fielded calls from departments in Ohio and Pennsylvania as well. The unit provides fire departments with unequalled water delivery capability; use of an attachment that can instantly provide access holes, even in concrete walls; and a boom-mounted camera that allows the operator to see what he is hosing down. That it can do all this while removing firefighters from harm’s way makes it an invaluable tool. It’s just another way the new machine has allowed us to grow our business.”
Yannuzzi’s decision to go with Jewell for the design and construction of their machine stems from solid research and a comfort level that they understood their customers’ needs. According to Skurdahl, the ability to work with the customer is a cornerstone upon which the company was founded more than 20 years ago. Making an impact on the demolition market has been a challenging, though rewarding, process.
“While Yannuzzi and several others are well-acquainted with our capabilities and what we can do for them specifically, there are a lot of demolition contractors who are not. They are under the assumption, perhaps because of what they’ve been told in the past, that all boom manufacturers are alike and they are limited to “on-the-shelf” equipment, so to speak. For us, nothing could be further from the truth.
“Our grounding is in providing solutions to companies in the forestry industry, and in that role, we’ve literally never made the same tool twice. Every contractor’s needs differ; so, too, will his approach to meeting those needs. We’re bringing that same custom-built approach to demolition contractors and seeing a tremendous response from them. The fact that we not only design the boom and provide attachments for that boom, but we also make all the necessary modifications to the base machine has opened quite a few eyes.”
Unforeseen Impact
There’s little doubt as to the impact the new machine has had on Yannuzzi’s operation. Says Dannenfelser, it has taken efficiency, and their operation as a whole, to a different plane.
“Having the high reach unit has put us in a different category of demolition contractor. It sets up apart in the sense that we are being called for work that is specific to this machine. We’re also seeing levels of productivity we never dreamed of. Projects that, in the past, would have taken weeks are now being done in days. In many cases, it takes us longer to get the permits than it does for the high-reach machine to do the job. That’s serious impact.”
Demo on the Call
Much of the success Yannuzzi has enjoyed with its extended reach capability is due to the company’s ability to quickly mobilize to address unique situations. One such instance happened shortly before this issue went to press and, according to Dennis Dannenfelser, Yannuzzi’s operations manager, it was typical of the types of calls they regularly receive.
“We got a call on a Friday morning that bricks from the uppermost floors of an 11-story condominium building in Atlantic City were falling into the street, and officials felt the structure itself was posing a threat to a nearby casino. In fact, the amount of debris falling was sufficient to warrant closing the street that ran in front of the building. We mobilized immediately after the call and pretty much had the structure demolished by late that night. While the project itself was not that out of the ordinary for us — given that we have this high-reach capability — the fact that the city officials immediately turned to us for help speaks volumes about how valuable this tool has become to us. It’s really been more successful than we ever envisioned.”