In August 2018 the Old Red Brick Company was awarded the contract to demolish a set of adjoining three-story buildings in the heart of the city at 110 Currie Street Adelaide. The demolition was the precursor to the erection of new apartment complex on the site.
This project required us to safely, quickly and efficiently demolish a three story building in a three and a half-week timeframe.
The project had several challenges. Firstly, the height of the structure presented challenges from a practical perspective. Another challenging aspect of the project was the busy laneways on either side of the building. The local council conditions deemed that extended lane closures around the building were not possible which meant that three elevations of the building needed to be scaffolded to the full height of the structure to protect passing vehicles and pedestrians.
To add to the challenge, the building also had a basement level. The ground floor slab which formed the lid of this basement would not hold the weight of the excavator demolished the building. This meant that we were required to punch and then fill in the basement level with building waste without pushing out the external walls as the excavator worked its way into the structure. At the conclusion of the job, we were then required to excavate and remove the retaining walls for the basement without undermining the adjacent council infrastructure.
As the job was situated in the heart of the city, environmental factors were also of paramount importance, particularly controlling dust, noise, and drag-out. Ultimately, we were able to control these factors and complete the job to the satisfaction of our client.
