Former Margaret Beaufort Middle School Demolition | Expert Services
SCOPE:Demolition of the former middle school and landscaping the site on completion
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This project was the demolition of the former middle school and landscaping the site on completion.
C. Jackson and Sons were awarded the 16 week contract by Kier to demolish the school including breaking out the foundations and landscaping the site on completion.
The 2,500m² school was a part single and part three storey reinforced concrete building which housed multiple classrooms and halls.
History
Margaret Beaufort school opened as a secondary school in 1962, later changing to a middle school in the mid 1970s under Bedfordshire Council’s three tier education system.
The school closed in 2017 after the Council changed back to the two-tier system and a new primary school was built adjacent to the original building on the Northern end of the existing site.
The directors and a number of employees at C. Jackson & Sons had attended the school. This was one job that we had to win!
Asbestos was identified extensively throughout the building. Asbestos paper was present in below floor heating ducts, service risers and plant rooms.
Asbestos cement window sills were found throughout the buildings and asbestos floor coverings & adhesive were widespread.
22.5 tonnes of asbestos containing materials were removed by our sister company Jackson Environmental and the building was extensively soft stripped back to a hard shell.
Although substantially built, the reinforced concrete structure was easily brought down using our 40 tonne demolition excavator fitted with a 4 tonne concrete cracker attachment.
Smaller 25 tonne and 15 tonne excavators fitted with grapples, concrete pulverisers and breakers were used for primary material processing and loading duties.
Ground slabs and foundations were broken out and subbase material excavated.
All masonry and concrete arising was crushed on site to 6F2 grading and sold to local construction sites.
On completion, the site was covered with 800mm of soil that had been left over from construction of the new school.
In total approximately 4,500 tonnes of plasterboard, timber, masonry, concrete and scrap metal arising were recycled with just 155 tonnes of demolition & asbestos waste sent to landfill.
The contract was completed within the 16 week programme.
Photo credits: Helidrone Services Bedford