Albert Secondary

Background:

Following the relocation of pupils to the new Springburn Academy, two complete wings of the Albert Secondary school building were gutted by fire. The damage revealed asbestos already known to be present in the Victorian structure.

Challenges:

The asbestos was in the form of insulated pipes that the fire left highly visible as they threaded through bent steel roof trusses. The stability of the upper walls was very poor as the entire roof had been burnt away leaving only distorted steel tying the boundary walls together. Since it was highly likely that debris would be contaminated, a co-ordinated approach was required to avoid asbestos spread. This was especially important given the occupied houses and other school properties surrounding the site.

Soloutions:

The decision was taken to clean up the area using qualified asbestos staff. Cranes were used to access the high level asbestos insulated pipes and remove them to the safety of an asbestos skip below. All interior building surfaces were then cleaned under controlled conditions. Steel truss remnants were carefully cut down and wall heights reduced to safe levels. All contaminated debris was manually separated and removed from secure floor levels and basement level for controlled deposit in the asbestos skips. Close monitoring of the workforce and surrounding environment to assess air-quality was carried out by independent specialist laboratories to confirm effective control of asbestos contaminated dust.