Shredded Wheat Factory
Plutus Estates
32 weeks
£1.5m
Welwyn Garden City
Location & Overview
The project consisted of 33 acres split over 2 sites. The North site contained the former 1920s Shredded Wheat Factory, of which the original factory and silos were heritage listed, whilst the South site housed 4 storey high industrial units, previously remediated ground, an underground firing range and pipe ducts.
Work, Challenges & Solutions
The soft strip and removal of asbestos along with other hazardous waste products under fully controlled conditions and liaison with the relevant service suppliers to arrange disconnection and isolation of water, gas and electric.
Excluding the listed buildings, demolition of the factory and the 27no. 35m high grain silos was undertaken using a high-reach excavator with a rotating hydraulic cracker, followed by demolition of the site slab, proof dig to 2m and removal of obstructions.
Crushing and stockpiling of demolition arisings took place on site and Environmental monitoring was set up for air quality, noise and vibration checking.
Fortnightly coordination with the neighbours to fully inform them of the up and coming works was held.
Achievements
Overcoming the obstruction removal and probing to allow for future piling to be undertaken.
Innovative engineering to pump out and filter the asbestos-contaminated water from the rifle range and underground pipe ducts.
98% recycling for all materials removed from site.
We were given the Considerate Constructors award.