Southern Demolition Company praised for its considerate de-construction
Southern Demolition Company Ltd (SDC) has been praised for its project to demolish two steel-framed office blocks at the Intec Business Park, on the outskirts of Basingstoke town centre in Hampshire.
SDC has been at the forefront of developing and maintaining the highest standards in the industry since 1953, specialising in all forms of demolition including industrial, commercial and domestic structures.
This project was carried out by SDC on behalf of client, Malcolm Hollis, a leading UK and Ireland commercial building consultant, acting as contract administrator.
The project involved the strip-out and demolition of two of the five buildings on the Intec Business Park.
One challenge that SDC faced was that work needed to be completed within a restricted area between two buildings, just 50 yards apart, so they had to schedule their works to enable smooth progress, with as little disruption as possible.
They also had to rearrange parking facilities for the other business park users, along with the local residents and diversions for footpath users.
One delicate aspect of operations concerned building number five, which housed a live electrical substation, requiring the careful and safe dismantling of the building in sections using a high reach.
A further complication was that buildings four and five had their windows sealed with material containing asbestos.
Here are some examples of best practice initiatives carried out by SDC:
- A fully decorated and well-maintained hoarding was in place with a viewing area available through the double meshed gates, showing a well-organised and managed site.
- A daily check of the hoarding occurred to maintain good appearance and 40 yard skips were used for segregation of waste on-site and collected by a waste company located near to the business park.
- Operatives wore hi-vis, hard hats and boots, plus task-specific PPE and a smoking point was created beside the cabin but shielded from view behind the hoarding.
- SDC donated approximately £40,000 of office furniture from the former building to some of the existing business centre tenants.
- All routes into the site were controlled and a new one-way system introduced to assist the existing users of the park.
- Progress and site-related review meetings were frequently held with the community to keep them updated.
- SDC encouraged local community involvement and feedback by ensuring that each site has a dedicated individual or team to deal with local residents and community matters.
- Local suppliers and a waste company was used, with bottled gas utilised by the Eco units and water stored in a tank within the unit.
- The company offers apprenticeships and placements for university graduates, as well as operating an open door policy and promoting a ‘You said, we did’ board.
- A site management plan was implemented with a target of 95% of waste diverted from landfill. A ‘muncher’ was used for demolition and waste was segregated.
- An asbestos survey was carried out and uncovered 3,000 metres of asbestos window gasket string. The window panes, which had been sealed with material including asbestos, had to be individually and carefully removed by SDC’s specialist asbestos removal operatives on access towers. A sealed skip was used for this toxic waste.
- SDC’s specialist asbestos company holds a three-year licence for asbestos removal and has fully trained asbestos surveyors in-house who undertake both management, demolition or refurbishment surveys.
- In order to keep its carbon footprint as low as possible, SDC encouraged the use of public transport as far as possible.
- The site was totally secured by a full height hoarding and meshed entrance gates. Operatives were encouraged to report back any incidents, with incentive rewards in place.
- Regular medical checks were arranged for all operatives who were also given assessments for risk and COSHH(Control of Substances Hazardous to Health), to limit occupational health issues.
