I recently learned that 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of The Matrix trilogy. Some of you may remember that TRP was the deconstruction contractor on three major scenes from two of the films: The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. While most of the filming was done in Australia, Eon’s fight with Agent Smith, the freeway chase scene, and Morpheus at Zion located near the earth’s center were shot at the old Alameda Naval Air Station. TRP had recently relocated from San Leandro to the naval station and was asked to bid on the removal and cleanup of these three sets.
The fight set was a multistory apartment complex made of truss joists, Luan and half-inch plywood, plus 1x4 and 2x4 framing. The freeway was the largest of the sets. It was constructed atop the last remaining runway on the base, and filming was done on a 1.3 mile stretch of asphalt with fake concrete walls on the north and south bound lanes, including an overpass capable of handling a semi-truck and trailer — photo below.
The third scene showed Morpheus speaking at Zion, a subterranean region consisting of rocks and a river. This set was constructed from expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks, two feet thick, four feet wide and eight feet long, sculpted and painted to look like a massive rock cave.
While TRP crews deconstructed all the reusable materials from the three sets, our project partner Yelton Company did the heavy lifting, which included removing the steel from the bridge overpass, regrading the bridge access ramps, breaking up the three concrete barriers, each 1.3 miles in length, and grinding (recycling) the concrete into base rock.
Twenty-five full-time TRP crew members worked 68 days, with the result that 95.2 percent of the materials were diverted for reuse, including:
• 180 tons of lumber and plywood
• 1,500 tons of steel
• 1,000 cubic feet of EPS
• 7,000 tons of base rock
One of the reasons TRP won the competitive bid was that the closest-bidding competitor, a demolition contractor, budgeted an excessive amount for disposal. In contrast, TRP’s disposal was very minimal.
I hope to see you at the TRP ReUse Fair, Saturday August 10, 2024
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at our retail warehouse – 9235 San Leandro Street, Oakland