Menzieshill High School, Dundee
Dem-Master Demolition were appointed as Principal Contractor for the demolition of the former Menzieshill High School in Dundee. The building was of traditional low-rise concrete frame construction and spread over four storeys, plus basements and swimming pool.
The site was bounded on the North and South sides by residential properties and there were also two Primary Schools within close proximity and site staff were made aware of the likely increase in road users and pedestrians at peak times and advised to ensure that vehicle/plant movements were carried out out-with these times.
Technical Description of works
The project involved the licenced and non-licenced removal of Asbestos, soft strip and the complete structural demolition of the school buildings and swimming pool.
The construction throughout was a series of interconnecting single to four storey concrete framed blocks with enclosed link corridor connections at all levels.
The external fabric of the blocks comprised pre-cast decorative panels with full length intermediate glazing.
Contractor Methodology
The asbestos removal was confined to small, isolated areas and this allowed us to quickly decontaminate the building and move on to a comprehensive soft strip. Additional asbestos was found on the external window panels of the dining hall/assembly hall – this was missed by the client’s asbestos survey team and required a small extension to programme.
A full range of tracked demolition excavators, from 30T to 65T, were employed to follow directly on from the soft strip and progressively un-build through the blocks in their specified sequence as detailed in the method statement.
The site was levelled off and all depressions and voids infilled with crushed material. The remaining crushed debris was removed from site and utilised on other projects within the local council area.
The Asbestos Survey identified that 92m² of Asbestos insulation board (AIB) containing Amosite and Chrysotile were present in the building both internally and externally which required removal.
Our fully equipped Asbestos team set up and tested a de-contamination unit on site and formed enclosures to each removal zone within the building.
Internally: Enclosures were formed by sealing off each room where asbestos had been identified within the school by applying polythene and tape
Externally: A partial enclosure was formed in the platform of a M.E.W.P and leaving one face open which was fixed to the face of the building, as far as reasonably practicable, to achieve the best possible seal.
The project was delivered within budget and on programme and the client awarded us a score of 95% on their Contract Feedback questionnaire.
