Lester B. Pearson Airport Greater Toronto Airports Authority Old Terminal 1 Decommissioning and Demolition

In 1964, Terminal One at the Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto opened for service. When constructed it was considered an architectural masterpiece and lauded as a state-of-the art aircraft/passenger processing facility. This unique circular airport structure was able to efficiently process in excess of 9 million passengers annually. However, with the progressive development of a brand new, much larger terminal facility, the old Terminal One days were numbered. On November 3, 2004, the last piece of the structure was demolished and old Terminal One was passed into the aviation history books. The purpose of this technical paper is to outline the designed process implemented in the Decommissioning and Demolition of the old Terminal One. Environmental sustainability, a multi-faceted key approach for this immense and rare undertaking, addressed hazardous material decommissioning, demolition methodology, material salvage, recycling and processing. The decommissioning of hazardous substances (i.e. asbestos containing materials, PCB’s, CFC’s, lead, bird guano, mould, etc.) was an integral activity and a prerequisite to the ensuing stage of demolition in which the process of salvaging and recycling of the demolition materials structural demolition was of prime importance to the stakeholders. These issues bring together a framework for the demolition approach in providing cost efficiencies and effectiveness on this large scale, high profile project for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.