£110 million pound regeneration project
October 16th 2008

D-Drill’s special projects division, MBC Specialist Services, has recently completed a 4 week project at The Galleries, in Birmingham. Formally known as the Five Ways Shopping Centre, the £110 million pound regeneration project required complete blow down demolition to make way for 39,500 sq m (424,500 sq ft) of retail, leisure and office accommodation.

Coleman & Co., responsible for the blow down, subcontracted the work to D-Drill to undertake pre-weakening work of the structure. The site, located on the busy Five Ways Island and the Hagley Road needed demolition to occur with minimum disruption to the surrounding area. With 17 storeys in the Edgbaston Shopping Centre tower, structural weakening would entail precision demolition in a confined area.

D-Drill, known for its 40 year’s of service providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition, was an obvious choice. A selection of Brokk robotic demolition machinery was planned for their proven abilities as precise, strong and versatile machines.

Julie White, D-Drill’s Managing Director comments, “Straight away it was evident that this project needed Brokk machinery. Without on-site cranes or other mechanical means of lifting machinery to all floors, we implemented 2 Brokk 90 machines to track their way up internal stair cases.”

17 flights of stairs in the shopping centre tower were easily navigated by the Brokk 90 and by the skill and experience of the operative.

A larger Brokk 180 was used on the ground floor. “Brokk 180’s provide exceptional punching force in tightly controlled areas with breakout forces equivalent to a 15 tonne excavator. The strength and versatility of these machines makes them ideal demolition items for heavy duty demolition work in confined spaces.”

Numerous benefits of Brokk robotic demolition are evident and clearly show why the machines were chosen for The Galleries site. “Don’t be fooled by their size” says Julie. “Their strength comes as a surprise. With excellent centres of gravity the three part robotic arms can carry heavy attachments thus giving them large capacities in relation to their weight.”

The hydraulic breaker attachment used in The Galleries job ensured that only exact areas were destroyed or weakened. The machine was designed to withstand continuous operation with these hydraulic breakers which are controlled remotely. The problem of H.A.V. (Hand & Arm Vibration) is removed along with manual handling time regulations which were implemented to protect operatives from vibration stress.

“Remote control has other benefits.” continued Julie, “Safety is first and foremost on any site but the commercial benefits are also attractive. The machine and operative can work throughout the shift without the risk of fatigue or accidents from falling debris. Also the work can be completed up to three times faster than by traditional methods, delivering a massive saving in time and money for the customer”.

Coleman & Co came to D-Drill because they have the range of expertise, technology and depth of resource to solve their problems. For example some structural walls were up to 800mm thick and so diamond wire sawing and track sawing were used by D-Drill around these perimeters to make the breaking out more efficient and precise. Track saws can cut clean, near perfect slots of up to 600mm deep. D-Drill used the latest high frequency electronic equipment capable of drilling either horizontally, vertically or even inverted. All of which were necessary on this job. Diamond wire sawing is also extremely versatile with almost unlimited cutting depths.

The essence of D-Drill’s approach to The Galleries pre-weakening work was providing technological solutions that are flexible and safe. They have got this high profile project of to a flying start, using machines that negotiated stairs, safely demolished structural walls and sawed through thick areas without risk to operatives and with minimum disruption to the busy Edgbaston community. A structurally safe environment has been left ready for the next stage of the project.

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