In This Article:
- The importance of grading in construction
- Debris left after land clearing and grading
- Air Curtain Burners for debris management
- Cost comparisons
Air Curtain Burners are a fantastic alternative to other methods of debris management for home builders, general contractors, graders, commercial builders, and so on. Once a plot is cleared, something must be done with the many trees and vegetation that have been cut down. Many times, managing large amounts of debris and clearing it away can be difficult and costly.
Air Curtain Burners are not limited to rural use, but can be set up in areas where people are living and building (as long as there is sufficient clearance) because they are safe, produce little smoke, and aren’t excessively loud. Because the fire is trapped within the pit and by the curtain of air, there is little chance of accidental emergencies. Even in the case that one could occur, an Air curtain burner’s set up makes it very easy to extinguish any escaping sparks and fire.
(For more information on this, check this article on How Air Curtain Burners Function)
Air curtain burners are quick and easy to set up. They represent a low-cost, easy-to-manage solution. Consider this: The byproduct that air curtain incinerators leave behind (ash) is very small- a meager 3-5% or less of the original volume. Compare this with hauling and grinding. With hauling, you will have to manage 100% of your original debris volume, normally by trucking it off-site and paying dump fees. Even after grinding, you will still have to handle 40% of your original volume, which would now be in wood-chip form and would also have to be trucked offsite. Alternatively, the relatively small amount of ash can simply be covered over, spread out on the property, or repurposed. That reduction in volume will mean serious savings for your company. Consider the following example:
Imagine that after the land is cleared, you are left with 400 cubic yards of tree tops and branches. The average cost to haul these away is $10 per cubic yard, which means an average 40-yard truck will cost approximately $400 to haul away. Ten loads would cost approximately $4000.
For those same 400 cubic yards of debris, which can normally be burned in one day, there are about 10-20 cubic yards of ash left over, depending on how well you burn the material. You can spread that ash out on your land or repurpose the ash, which of course costs nothing, or haul it away, which would cost only a few hundred dollars. The daily cost of burners is approximately $200 a day, and the total burn time needed to process 400 cubic yards is just under 6 hours. This means very significant savings!
For a thorough price breakdown and comparison of hauling, grinding, and burning, please see our article: Comparing Debris Disposal Methods: Hauling, Grinding, and Burning for Cost and Efficiency
Still trying to decide what you would do with the resulting ash? Read our article on How To Repurpose Ash.
Photo courtesy of the Federal Forest Service
WHY IS GRADING SO IMPORTANT?
Any contractor knows that once the paperwork and permitting is done, the first fundamental step of any construction project is land clearing and grading. Preparing the plot is critical because, without a properly graded property, the foundation will not be adequately level. Further, grading affects water drainage and improper grading could create flooding, pooling, or cause the water to flow towards your home or commercial building instead of away from it.