Welcome to this inaugural issue of RE:GENERATION, our new magazine exploring the evolving world of demolition.
Articles, features and profiles for next generation demolition RE:GENERATION
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
Enabling the future
Re:Generation Edition 01
London’s skyline Re:Imagining
Welcome to this inaugural issue of RE:GENERATION, our new magazine exploring the evolving world of demolition.
Contents RE: Imagining London’s skyline Foreword by George Stainton 03
2022 was a good year for General Demolition. Major projects included the £3 million+ strip out of the Debenhams flagship store on Oxford Street, as well as the iconic Grade II listed Arding & Hobbs and former Debenham’s store in Clapham. Rest assured, we weren’t just to be found on the high street, other successful schemes included the ARUP’S fromer Office’s on Fitzroy Street and the take-down of Victorian warehouses in Glengall Road. (With façades and the 150ft chimney at the center of the complex staying very much in position.) The meticulous planning of the project coupled with great communication and collaboration meant that the project team succesfully mitigated the possible impacts of an unmarked gas station close to site. This allowed the project to go on with minimum disruption. With more than four decades of experience behind us, General Demolition is acknowledged as a leader in its field, combining deep understanding of how things must be done, with an eagerness to embrace innovation. This is being recognised, and why we find ourseleves in competitive tenders against some of the leading companies in the industry.
We continue to strengthen our team, responding to whatever our customer’s needs are and investing in our brand. This appears to be working. When dodging the downpours recently in a taxi, I was asked what industry I was in by the cab driver – his immediate response was ‘Not General Demolition I Suppose?!.’ I found this quite heartening given our efforts and presence in central London (I did think afterwards it was likely a crane lift that may have caught his eye!).
The year ahead
What to expect in 2023? For General Demolition we continue to invest in people, skills, equipment and technology. Whether it be façade retention, temporary works or shoring, when it comes to demolition and strip out contracts in London and its surrounding areas. You should give us a call for some friendly advice. We are always happy to help wherever we can. We can tackle the most complex projects and have a proven track record for delivering what we promise. For us it’s all about building strong trusting relationships with likeminded partners. London’s skyline is changing, and we aim to be a part of that transition, bringing in a new level of professional standards to the industry. We believe wholeheartedly in our mission – we are here to ‘enable the future – and
All for the love of a jaguar An interview with Colin McLoughlin
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10 tips for effective Health & Safety
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New demolition and recycling equipment at Bauma 2022
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Do we even need to demolish?
There is still much work that the industry can do to improve sustainability. The trend not to demolish, but to reuse the existing stock of properties, continues to grow. I remain perplexed when many of the buildings that have formed the fabric or our local communities are needlessly knocked down. We support stripping out buildings and ‘cut and carving’ them ready to start their new lives – in many cases with reduced carbon footprints. Not all buildings can (or should) be saved: we need to strike a balance between nostalga, sustainability and pragmatism.
Latest demolition market predicts long term growth
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Focus on sustainability: the plug-in electric compressors
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Demoliton throwback: The original Waterloo Bridge
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accelerate the change to sustainable demolition.’
I hope you enjoy reading this issue.
George Stainton Managing Director
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www.general-demoliton.co.uk
Re:Generation Edition 01
All for the love of a jaguar It wasn’t the work that first attracted General Demolition’s Chairman Colin McLoughlin to the business – it was the love of driving a Mk II Jaguar. Colin McLoughlin Chairman
Minder
Bomb shelter bonanza
After trying his hand selling parrafin, being a butchers boy and a removals man (“No money in any of that!” he laughs) he got a job with Arthur Caitlin. Now Arthur was a larger- than-life character who owned a skip and demolition company, and – more importantly – had a shiny new Mk II Jaguar with wire wheels. In a mirror of 1970s TV show Minder, this ‘Arfer Daley’ needed a ‘Terry McCann’-type driver to take him around – and Colin jumped at the chance. “Arthur thought I wanted a job in demolition,” Colin laughs, “But I was just interested in driving the Jag and impressing girls with it once I’d dropped him off home.” But Colin was a good driver of not just cars, but lorries, construction machines and cranes too, and he was soon working for Arthur full time. One of his extra jobs was to empty the company’s skips placed in local areas into a Transit van. In his first experience of recycling, he would keep a keen eye out for furniture and sell them back to the local upholsterer.. Before long Colin was Arthur’s right hand man, and sent off to pay workers and help entertain the company’s customers at Catford dog track.
When Arthur died, the 19 year old Colin went to his funeral. Afterwards, at the wake he was cornered by a group of the company’s workers. “They said: ‘When You take over, don’t forget to look after us and pay us our regular wages.’ I was flabbergasted that they thought I was going to be the new boss,” remembers Colin. “They mistakenly thought I was more important than I was – Arthur’s heir apparent. But I wasn’t – I was just a glorified driver.” As it turned out, Arthur’s family also thought he was the coming man, and offered him the chance to take on the company’s demolition work. He may have lost the Jag, but Colin took to it like a natural.
Soon working independently, the first big break Colin got was doing something the Nazis couldn’t – demolish the hundreds of air raid shelters around London that remained after the war. The Government offered a short term incentive to remove them, and that was the golden ticket Colin needed. “I demolished hundreds of air raid shelters and became expert at bringing them down quickly,” he remembers, “From walking the concrete through peoples houses to remove shelters in their back gardens to demolishing large communal ones like the big one in Mitcham, it was a gold mine and really got us going. After that we were in business and there was no going back.
That sums up Colin McLoughlin, General Demolition’s founder and long-time chairman. With school ‘not for him’ he was destined to end up on one of the factory jobs that were plentiful in late 1960s London. But that was not for him either. So thanks to his father’s racing connections, he used his small stature (and 7.5 stone featherweight) to his advantage, and embarked on an apprenticeship as a jockey in nearby Reigate. A couple of nasty falls later and this career path too was abandoned. “It was exciting,” Colin admits, “but I was always a bit scared of horses – they were massive!”
In this article, the first in a series charting Colin’s 50 years in the business, we look at how removing WWII air raid shelters set him on the road to victory. It’s not easy being the fourth child of six in a poor family from Croydon. Things don’t come easy, and if you want something, generally you have to go out and make it happen yourself.
Brains over brawn
“People often think that you need to be big and strong to be in demolition,” says Colin. “But I wasn’t, and so I had to do things a different, smarter way. And that’s the way we still do our work – with brains-over-brawn. And always safely. Back in the day, before machines took over, that might have meant using the weight of a chimney stack with its bottom cut out to pull down a wall, or use a ‘Dutch eve’ to easily lever walls over without the need for machines.”
“Arthur thought I wanted a job in demolition,” Colin laughs, “But I was just interested in driving the Jag and impressing girls with it once I’d dropped him off home.”
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Feature Project
Re:Generation Edition 01
10 tips for effective Health & Safety
Famous store given new lease of life Anyone above a certain age will remember the 1970s BBC sitcom Are you being served? It followed the misadventures of workers in a traditional British department store. Arding & Hobbs was just such a store, and its flagship building in Clapham Junction went on to be a TV star in its own right, featuring in music videos and a Mr Bean episode. It was even blown up in 1980 action thriller Nighthawks, starring a movie unknown called Sylvester Stallone... Luckily, General Demolition wasn’t asked to blow up this venerable 1910 Grade II listed building. What was required was something less brutal, more precise – not an off-the-peg solution, but more of our bespoke tailoring of the space.
Establish an ongoing culture of communication and the re-evaluation of risk, by everyone” “
The redevelopment of the building plans to create flexible retail and leisure uses across the ground and basement floors and introduce modern office space to the upper floors, with a new rooftop extension to crown the building. General Demolition has played its part in delivering a sensitive restoration, refurbishment and extension to this listed building to celebrate its unique heritage features.
Get in touch for the full case study. Email: enquiries@general-demolition.co.uk
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Yes, demolition is an inherently hazardous industry, but experienced demolition professionals know how to assess, mitigate and manage the risks. This means keeping assessments relevant to the scale, type, and number of hazards at play. This does not mean comparatively less hazardous environments are risk free.
2.
Whatever your attitude to safety, we must keep talking about the topic. The Health and Safety Executive report – Workplace fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2021 – makes for a tough read. There were 142 employees killed in work-related accidents in 2020, with an additional 60 work-related deaths among members of the public. Talking about safety can be emotive and distressing but we cannot be dismissive of the data. The numbers aren’t merely statistics – they are lives lost and families broken. So keep talking.
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Remove or mitigate risk to the minimum practicable level.
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We should all work with the attitude that: ‘I want to go home tonight with 10 fingers and 10 toes.’ Because, what if a series of workplace behaviours saw several seemingly minor oversights coalesce, just once – when person A did X, person B didn’t do Y, and person C presumed someone else would take care of Z – with devastating consequences? For similar reasons, we should cross even familiar roads and always look, regardless of whether nine times out of 10, there’s never been a passing car before. Because what if on the tenth occasion there is?
7.
Remember that when it comes to safety, familiarity breeds contempt. Try to establish an ongoing culture of communication and the re-evaluation of risk, by everyone involved. We are human, after all, and when a scenario becomes habitual or comfortable, we are scientifically proven to fall out of a certain behaviour. We therefore need to keep talking, from the bottom up, with no gaps. Nobody would openly say: ‘I deliberately take risks at work,’ or ‘We don’t do things particularly safely on our site.’ However, a continued assessment of that safety attitude should take place, ideally steered by someone with the appropriate knowledge, before being embraced by all.
9.
In saying all of this we must remain sensible.
Proactively appraising a situation and understanding the consequences of inappropriate behaviour such as ‘cutting corners’ is essential – and everyone has a role to play. What measures can be taken to mitigate and manage risk? These range from more well-known actions such as the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment) and the erection of handrails, to perhaps less obvious rescue measures such as how we would get someone down if they had a heart attack when working at height.
We all have jobs to do, and in some cases the ‘health and safety gone mad’ statement is probably justified. Stay focused on reasonable and practicable measures, and if in any doubt, consult someone who can offer an experienced perspective.
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Reactive safety strategies are also important.
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These include the investigation of an incident, root cause analysis, reporting, the evaluation of learnings, and the implementation of improvements. The world is constantly changing, and sadly it is not possible to predict every eventuality. But this responsive exercise – however imperative – means an incident has already happened.
There are no degrees of safety.
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Something is either safe, or it is not, as you don’t know the tipping point between having a near miss and someone having a serious accident.. That’s why there can be no excuses surrounding decisions made – or not – to follow safety protocol.
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Text: Reprinted with thanks to our friends at Demolition & Recycling International Magazine.
www.general-demoliton.co.uk
Re:Generation Edition 01 New Demolition and recycling technology at Bauma 2022
Tech to keep everyone safe
Doosan’s Transparent Bucket
Caterpillar exhibited its Cat Command Station. This enables operators to work remotely and safely, seated in a virtual cab with familiar controls and display. Other tech from the company included Cat Grade with Assist for excavators uses machine position sensors and operator-defined depth and slope parameters to automate boom and stick movements, for more accurate cuts with less effort to help increase operator efficiency.
Doosan presented its ‘Transparent Bucket’ safety system, which provides a solution to prevent the danger of blind spots in front of the buckets of wheeled loaders. The show also provided a first look at the new DX27Z-7 (2.8 ton), DX35Z-7 (3.9 ton), DX50Z-7 (5.4 ton) and DX55R-7 (5.7 ton) Stage V compliant mini-excavators – all of which are described as ideal for confined space work.
Hyundai’s trio of Red Dot Design Award winning mini excavators.
The Epiroc VC2000 (Photo: Epiroc)
Rubble Master’s RM 50X
Hyundai Mini Excavator Range
Drum cutters
Mobile and crushing screening plants
Hyundai updated its mini excavator offer, with the launch of a range of EU Stage V machines – the A Series with operating weights from 1.7 to 5.5 tons. The extra demands of the waste and recycling sectors has led to the development of heavy-duty HD versions of the both the standard PZ-bar HL955AHD, with high tilt-back forces for heavier attachments, and the high-lift HL955AHDXT model with its extended lift arm reach. Eight new models join the recently unveiled HX10A Twin Drive micro excavator and the range-topping HX85A. Also new from Hyundai is the HL955AHD and HL955AHDXT wheeled loaders. These models have been specifically designed to handle severe applications, such as recycling and waste handling.
Epiroc launched its V-shaped drum cutter, as a new way to work with demolition, rock, concrete wall and surface profiling, and other applications. Mounting the drums in a V-shape enables a cut with a flat base and no material is left untouched between the drums. It works like a bucket, which the company says makes it easier to use, friendlier for the carrier, requires less energy and is less time consuming. Epiroc is introducing a smaller model suitable for carriers of 15 to 28 tons. It has also added a ‘tool on demand’ concept to its supply of working tools for hydraulic breakers. High-temperature applications require working tools in heat resistant vanadium steel, while other applications require longer tools or special shapes. Epiroc says it is now possible for the customer to order exactly what they need, in the size of their choice, with a variety of tool tip geometries.
German crushing and screening machine specialist Kleemann
demonstrated its Mobirex MR 130(i) Pro impact crusher. It is used as a primary and secondary crusher. The company’s Spective operating concept was also featured. The new impact crusher has an all-electric drive concept with the option of an external power supply for CO2-free operation. It covers a range of natural stone and recycling operations and includes a heavy rotor, electric 250 kW drive, and continuous feed system. Austrian mobile processing plant manufacturer Rubble Master focused on electrification. This included the RM 50X hybrid screen, RM 110X jaw crusher, and X Smart software solution. The company, which claims to have developed the compact crusher for recycling construction and demolition waste more than 30 years ago, said: “Even before steadily rising fuel prices, the electrification of machines was a key economic as well as ecological argument.
The world’s largest construction exhibition Bauma recently took place in Munich, and contained much to interest the global demolition community. We look at some of the most notable product launches.
Bobcat’s S86 and T86 loaders
Bobcat unveiled wheeled and tracked loaders and mini-excavators at the show, including four additions to the 5 to 8 ton category, and a number of new attachments.
Delivering a higher engine and hydraulic output, the Bobcat S86 and T86 are said to be the most powerful compact loaders the company has ever built. Both use a Stage V compliant 3.4 litre Bobcat engine, and have three different auxiliary flow outputs. Currently being tested, the Quad Track concept allows the wheels of selected Bobcat skid-steer loaders to be replaced with four individual track pods, effectively converting them into tracked loaders.
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Text: Reprinted with thanks to our friends at Demolition & Recycling International Magazine.
www.general-demoliton.co.uk
Re:Generation Edition 01
Latest Demoiltion Market Forecast predicts long term growth
The report suggests that total and selective demolition services will generate 49.6% of industry revenue in 2022- 23 , while dismantling and decommissioning services will account for 43.8%.
Latest demolition market forecast predicts long term growth
£1216m
Predicted Demolition Industry Revenue
£165.9m
£1117.8m
£1071.8m
£1027.6m
£985.3m
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
The rise of residential Although the current decline in new housing starts is an obstacle, demand for site preparation is predicted to drive revenue growth through 2028. The residential property construction market is estimated to produce 34.8% of industry revenue in 2022-23, having grown as a share of revenue due to sustained policy support for both downstream housing developers and the stimulation of regional economic development. The government’s housing target of 300,000 new dwellings per annum by the mid-2020s has facilitated demand from property developers, while the £1.2 billion Starter Home Land Fund has supported the remediation and de-risking of land.
Following a 24.7% decline during 2020-21, the report predicts that improving operating conditions following the now largely mitigated pandemic are likely to result in increased industry revenue next year, rising by 4.6% to reach £985.3 million. A 4.3% compound average growth rate through 2027-28 should see this figure ultimately reach just over £1.2 billion, buoyed by the UK’s long-term decommissioning targets and policy support for the residential property, critical infrastructure and social infrastructure markets that are expected to create supply chain contract opportunities for demolition firms. The report suggests that total and selective demolition services will generate 49.6% of industry revenue in 2022-23, while dismantling and decommissioning services will account for 43.8%.
Demand for commercial building construction is also likely to rise over the next year, producing knock-on benefits for the demolition sector. In 2022-23, UK demolition firms are anticipated to generate 21.9% of industry revenue from commercial market contracts, while the public non-residential construction market is estimated to account for 9.4%. infrastructure work in March 2022 being 30.7% higher than in February 2020, predicted growth in the civil engineering sector is set to result in greater potential for lead generation in coming years. In particular, the trend towards renewable energy generation will provide major opportunities for the removal of the UK’s obsolete nuclear legacy. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) owns 17 sites currently listed for decommissioning, at a cost of approximately £120 billion, providing a lucrative avenue for specialist demolition firms. Constituting 33.9% of industry revenue in 2022-23, with new
With strikes and economic woes all around, with the risk of blackouts ahead, it’s almost as though the 1970s are here again. Nevertheless, the latest research from IBISWorld offers some encouraging predictions for the UK demolition sector. A new report covering the UK’s demolition market confirms General Demolition’s cautious optimism regarding the industry’s direction over the next five years. Annual growth is predicted to rise to 4.3% throughout 2023-2028 – a welcome relief from the -3.1% decline during 2018-2023 – according to the latest data compiled for the Demolition in the UK Industry Report (F43.110), published by IBISWorld.
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Re:Generation Edition 01
Latest Demoiltion Market Forecast predicts long term growth
Margin call
Waste not, want not
During 2022-23, the industry’s average operating margin is forecast to account for 6.1% of revenue, up from 2021-22, but an overall decrease from the 20% or so of 2017-18. Average profit margin is estimated to have fallen to 3.2% in 2020-21 as a result of sector-wide cashflow issues resulting from pandemic-induced operating and supply chain disruption, before recovering slightly during 2021-22, and will likely continue to rise in 2022-23. Nevertheless, an ability to accurately assess the various stages of a contract during the tendering period, including indirect revenue created from salvage and recycling, will continue to be extremely important. These improving margins are likely to result in the number of enterprises rising at a compound average growth rate of 3.2% through 2028, or 6.1% during 2022-2023, with contractors returning to the demolition market as tender opportunities re-emerge. As a result, demand for personnel could rise by 3.4% during those first 12 months, and at a compound average growth rate of 2.2% through 2028, as recruitment efforts are stepped up to support a once-again expanding order book.
This report highlights the growth of several key trends we have already become very familiar with over recent months, including the difficulty in finding skilled workers as a result of the UK’s new immigration policies,”
On the plus side, however, we can also testify to the increased demand for dismantling services to support the increased emphasis on waste reduction” “
General Demolition always aims for 100% recyclability on all of our projects, so hopefully the report’s prediction that this trend will continue will prove to be accurate.
Nevertheless, the report offers our industry some encouraging prospects at what is a difficult time for many.”
6.1% in 2023 Growth rate of
or
3.23% until 2028
+3.4% demand in 2023 for personnel
Peter Flanagan, Project Director, General Demolition.
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Re:Generation Edition 01
Feature Project
‘Doing anything this weekend?’
Skybridge (doesn’t) crash to earth
Race against the clock
You’d never know it was ever there
The pace of the work was as hot as the weather that bank holiday weekend. From 10pm on Maundy Thursday to 8am the following Tuesday, not a moment was wasted, day or night. Easter Saturday was used to strip the Skybridge of all its glass and cladding, as well as its roof. All internal finishes were removed and links to the buildings at either end cut, with concrete floors broken up. Easter Sunday morning saw a heavy duty telescopic mobile crane brought in for the lift of the 80 tonne Skybridge. However, the bridge’s lattice beam design meant it would buckle if just lifted. First a steel cradle needed to be welded around the frame, keeping it rigid as the crane lifted and lowered it onto a low loader. With the load made safe, it was escorted out of town to the General Demolition waste processing centre, where it was cut up and recycled.
Measures were taken to protect adjoining properties as well as to stone facings, floors and walls. The road was sheeted and protected – and all works made good. General Demolition also used reclaimed bricks to build a remarkable infill panel into the station, which perfectly matched the original 1836 building – disguising the fact that the Skybridge had ever existed. Needless to say, General Demolition maintained all incidental shoring, strutting, needling and other supports necessary to preserve stability of existing structures on the site or adjoining. It monitored all forms of environmental noise, dust & vibration limits and remained in regular communication with the Council’s Environmental Health Team. With swinging penalties in place for late completion, the Skybridge landed right on schedule – just as expected of General Demolition.
Going up in the world
Tooley St is pretty polished now, but it hasn’t always been so. In the 1930s George Orwell lived as a tramp in Tooley St. before writing his novel Down and Out in London and Paris. Perhaps that was why the developers of the smart Cotton Centre in the mid-1980s chose to create a skybridge that would connect London Bridge Station (which was once called Tooley St. Station) to its new 12 storey office, living and leisure complex – so that yuppies didn’t have to mix with the riffraff. But since then Tooley St has come up in the world, and the need for the Skybridge has dwindled. The area is thriving with shops, restaurants and exciting events – who’d want to bypass that? So, it was decided that the Skybridge’s days were over, and General Demolition was asked to bring it safely down to earth. Part of the A200, Tooley Street is one of Central London’s busiest roads, running along the South side of the River Thames. There was no question that the road would need to be closed to take down the Skybridge – but closing it would cause traffic chaos. And so, the long three-day Easter weekend of 2021 was chosen as the optimum moment for the work to take place. With military preparedness, the team at General Demolition had not just two of everything they needed but, given that all businesses would be closed during the works, they had one extra extra , just for luck. Ahead of the work GD liaised closely with Southwark Council, London Underground and Network Rail. It also provided regular updates to locals and businesses via newsletters and in-person visits and meetings.. Diversions were agreed and 24-hour traffic management put in place.
By comparison, the removal of two 10 tonne external escalators connecting the ground floor to the link bridge the following week was easy.
You’d never know it was there
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Get in touch for more information. Email: enquiries@general-demolition.co.uk
Get in touch for more information. Email: enquiries@general-demolition.co.uk
Feature Project
Re:Generation Edition 01
Fashioning a new Oxford Street
The nature of retailing is changing, and even London’s iconic Oxford St is having to adapt. 334 Oxford Street has been home to department store Debenhams flagship branch for many years. Its closing in January 2021 prompted a rethink about how the space should be used. The seven-storey building – topped with a glass atrium – is being transformed into a highly sustainable space with new facades. Of its 31,731m2 floor-plan, the new-look building will, in addition to its traditional retail, now include three storeys for Grade A offices with terraces.
It was General Demolition’s responsibility to return the building to its shell and ready it for its exciting new development. With the careful adaptation of the distinctive façade, we constructed a first-floor scaffolding gantry to facilitate the quick and effective removal of waste. Our in-house waste management facilities ensured over 98% of waste generated by the project was recycled.
Focus on sustainability: the plug-in electric compressor With most sites having some form of electric power available, the plug-in electric compressor is a game changer. Smaller, simpler, quieter, lighter and with running costs less than half that of diesel compressors, saving the earth has never made such good business sense.
Get in touch for the full case study. Email: enquiries@general-demolition.co.uk
Running costs cut by half
Flow dynamics
Thanks to electric mobile compressors, you can have a silent and emission- free source of compressed air on any working site. For a compressor with the same airflow and pressure, the electric variant even has a significantly lower physical footprint compared to diesel compressors. In addition to these advantages for the environment and surroundings, the running cost for an electric compressor is only half as much as the same diesel version. The E-Air’s integrated Variable Speed Drive permanent magnet electric motor only requires low power for start-up, so there is no need to oversize the power supply. The variable speed drive and permanent magnet motor also make an important contribution to efficiency. Combined, they offer the best-in-class efficiency at partial load and ensure that power consumption closely follows the air demand trend.
These electric mobile air compressors include the Atlas Copco’s PACE system (Pressure Adjusted through Cognitive Electronics). This enables users to control the pressure between 5 and 12 bar, in precise 0.1 bar increments, and adjust the flow to the optimal level for their application. Because of this, one compressor can handle various jobs that previously would have required several compressors. The E-Air features a seven-inch display allows a simultaneous view of several parameters, including pressure and flow. Consequently, there is no need to toggle around to check the flow at a certain pressure. Additionally, top structured alarm settings allow for operation monitoring.
The E-Air VSD range is also equipped as standard with an after-cooler, providing high-quality air for applications like sandblasting. As there is no need for an industrial power source, these compressors can even work from a common 16A socket; significantly increasing the possible power connections.
Pneumatic power has been the energy source of choice for a range of tasks on demolition sites for much of the last century – with few signs of that ending soon.
Diesel compressors have traditionally powered breakers and a wide range of hand tools (such as abrasive blasting) – but all that may be about to change, thanks to Atlas Copco’s E-Air plug-in electric compressor. Launched a couple of years ago, it has flown under the radar and gone largely unnoticed for much of that time. But with red diesel a thing of the past and fuel prices soaring, the E-Air’s time may have come. Demolition’s recycling expertise is the backbone of construction’s sustainability efforts, but there is still much that can be done to lower the carbon footprint in our operations and ways of working.
While battery powered compact equipment, such as wheel loaders and mini excavators, still struggle under high purchase costs and limited run times, plug in electric compressors are only marginally more expensive than their diesel equivalents, and can run continuously 24/7 – while emitting zero emissions. With no exhaust gases to worry about, it means they can work safely indoors and – with noise levels of 61dB (just about the level of a normal conversation) – productivity and noise safety are both enhanced.
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A contemporary engineer said it was
perhaps the finest large masonry bridge ever built in this or any other country’ ‘ the noblest bridge in the world’ ‘ Italian sculptor Antonio Canova called it
A contemporary engineer said it was ‘perhaps the finest large masonry bridge ever built in this or any other country.’ Italian sculptor Antonio Canova called it ‘the noblest bridge in the world’ and said it was worth going to England just to see it. Painters loved it so much they painted it – Monet from the window of his room at The Savoy Hotel. Demolition throwback: The original Waterloo Bridge
The original Waterloo Bridge was built by the Strand Bridge Co., who opened it in 1817. It was going to be called The Strand Bridge but was instead renamed to provide a lasting record of the British victory two years earlier; the Duke of Wellington himself attended its opening ceremony.
Waterloo Bridge was designed by the Scottish engineer John Rennie, complete with dramatic Doric columns. When it opened it did so as a toll bridge. But few people used it, as it was always possible to cross the Thames using Blackfriars or Westminster bridges instead, which were free. This particular battle of Waterloo was finally lost in 1878, when the bridge was nationalised and the tolls removed.
In 1889 the bridge was passed onto the London County Council (LCC). But it was discovered that an increase in the flow of the Thames had resulted in erosion of the foundations of the bridge piers. In 1924 the bridge was closed, and though a temporary steel framework enabled it to re-open, in 1930 the LCC decided it should be demolished. But the LCC’s subsequent attempts to do so came up against strong opposition, leading to a national debate among politicians, architects, engineers and the general public about the need for preserving or replacing the bridge.
Parliament continued to debate the pros and cons for an incredible 15 years, conflicted between aesthetic and utilitarian opinions about urban space within the modern city. A group of artists from the Royal Academy rallied around the cause, fueling what was described by Maureen Borland – painter, poet and art critic – as ’The “classic battle of the artist against the engineer, the aesthete against the philistine.’ Following much dispute, parliament refused to grant the money for a new bridge, which led to the leader of the leader of the LCC – and future wartime Home Secretary – Herbert (later Baron) Morrison, taking matters into his own hands.
On 21 June 1934, Morrison started tearing the old bridge down with a crowbar, thereby becoming one of the nation’s most famous demolition men. In 1937 Parliament eventually relented, and demolition began, with a new bridge replacing it in the 1940s. As today, recycling was at the forefront of Waterloo Bridge’s reconstruction. Some of the foundations were still so strong that they were retained for its replacement, which helped to mollify some preservationists by creating at least a sense of connection and commemoration to the past.
Some of the old bridge also found its way into the new one, in the form of facading or infill. While many of its granite blocks were offered as gifts to Commonwealth countries. The new bridge’s fate ultimately became entangled with the events of World War II. It experienced its own premature (and thanksfully only partial) demolition – becoming the only bridge in London to be hit by a bomb during the war.
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Enabling the future
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