Ardgowan & Blackhall Towers

Background:

The tender called for the complete demolition of two 15-storey residential tower blocks.

Challenges:

• The tower blocks were 45m in height.
• The work was to be carried out adjacent to live underground high-voltage cables
• The towers contained asbestos and were in close proximity to occupied residential properties, and
• A nearby chemical plant that could be damaged by dust.

Solutions:

Given the towers' close proximity to residential and industrial areas, the project called for a multi-phased process of stripping and deconstruction using long-reach excavators. The programme of demolition was as follows:

1. Asbestos was removed from the building.
2. Reigart commenced a soft strip of towers.
3. Cat scans were used to identify live buried services adjacent to the blocks.
4. Protective bunds were placed over sensitive underground services.
5. Dust suppression measures were put in place to minimise dust transfer to neighbouring chemical plant.
6. Towers were demolished using by ultra long-reach excavators and neighbouring properties.
7. Concrete from the building structures was recycled on-site into engineering grade aggregates.

The project was completed within the scheduled timeframe with a minimum of disruption to the local community.