31
d
&
ri
JULY-AUGUST 2013
SITE REPORTS
As a result we have to do a lot of the work at
night.”
Incidentally, the latter fact is probably a
blessing in a way – at the time of
D&Ri’s
visit
on site, daytime temperatures were in the
low 40s centigrade with high humidity. One
can only image what it must be like carrying
out torch cutting of steel in full protective
equipment in those conditions!
Rob went on: “The most difficult single
factor remains, however, the live services and
the fact that the other side of the temporary
boundary is open to the public throughout
the day.”
■
Inside the mall, mini-excavators remove the walls
of the individual retail units – although some have
to remain intact and undamaged for use in the
refurbished mall in a further complication
Once the soft strip work on the third floor
had been completed, work commenced on
hard demolition work in a pre-agreed sequence
with main contractor ECC that was most
expeditious to facilitate construction activities.
The demolition of the waffle slab and
beam car park ramp from ground down to
the basement level was the first element of
structural work carried out, with the intention
being for GTS to complete all ground and
basement level demolition as the first stage to
allow their release to ECC. ECC installed four
tower cranes around the building, which were
used to lift equipment to the upper levels of the
mall once the demolition in the lower levels
had been completed.
SETTING THE STANDARD
All structural demolition was and is being
carried out according with the regulations and
standards that apply in the UK. According
to Rob, the main challenge of the work: “is
working around live services. Because the mall
next door is open and functioning, and the
services are joined, probably 20% of them have
to remain live throughout the entire building.
Add this to a tight programme of 12 weeks to
carry out the entire contract and the amount
of material that has to be moved, estimated
at 1,000 lorry loads to landfill (concrete and
other landfill materials) with half as much
again of scrap that is being recycled. More
than anything, the challenge is co-ordination
because of the above, added to the location
itself, which adds road restrictions to the mix.
Work zones are segregated using a mixture
of fencing and barriers with obvious signage,
with watchmen stationed at pre-determined
positions to prevent unauthorised access to the
site and act as watchmen for the work at hand.
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