Caplaw Towers

Background:

The regeneration strategy for this busy residential area of North Lanarkshire called for the demolition of a thirteen-storey tower block along with 64 four-storey low-rise housing blocks.

Challenges:

• 13-storey tower block and multiple, low-rise housing blocks to be demolished in a logical sequence
• The tower was built of prefabricated concrete panels with a sandwiched layer of insulation
• The decorative panelling on the tower needed to be removed before the tower could be deconstructed.

Solutions:

The regeneration of this busy residential area in North Lanarkshire called for a safe, multi-phase deconstruction process that would minimise dust, noise and disruption to the local community.

1. The tower was enclosed with full height scaffolding on all elevations.
2. Temporary structural props were installed in the three floors below the working area on a successive basis.
3. Hand-held pneumatic equipment, mini-excavators, and cranes were used to deconstruct manually the top three floors of the tower.
4. Specialist long-reach equipment was then used to demolish the remainder of the building.
5. Concrete debris was crushed on-site to minimise traffic from the demolition sire and to produce engineering grade, recycled aggregates for future construction.

The project was completed safely and within budget, with the minimum disruption to the rest of the community.