D-Drill quietly removes Southampton Hospital roof

14 January 2010

Any drilling work at a hospital requires critical control of the noise level and timescale of the job, which is why C.G Comley Demolition appointed D-Drill for their expertise in the controlled demolition of a Southampton Hospital roof. The roof was situated directly above the main medical supplies entrance which is in constant use, and adjacent to live hospital wards, and therefore required extremely careful removal to avoid disrupting the delivery of these critical hospital supplies.

The work involved demolishing the 350mm thick reinforced concrete roof using a combination of 415v 3 phase high frequency Hilti TS-20E track saw for transverse cuts, and Dimas FS 71 HP diesel powered floor saw for longitudinal cuts. D-Drill also took along a 415v 3 phase 65 KVA generator to avoid using hospital supply.

The area was removed in two scheduled visits to the site, and due to the expertise of D-Drill the job was completed in just five days; four days ahead of schedule. The first section was 29 metres x 3.5 metres x 350mm deep which was cut into sections approximately 1.8 x 1.5 metres, each weighing 2 tonnes and lifted by a 100 tonne mobile crane onto lorries, this enabled immediate removal as there was very limited space within the site.

London and South Area Manager, John Barber comments, “There was no storage facility for the stockpiling of cut sections and there were hospital patients literally the other side of the boarded windows, which meant that conventional demolition methods of removal were not possible. Therefore specific load bearing support systems were designed months in advance to ensure that the whole area of the roof could be cut and held safely in place, which enabled a controlled and speedy removal process.”

John Barber added, “D-Drill were selected for this project because we were considered to have the preferred method of removal and offered the best solution for this particular contract with all the associated constraints.”

Known for its 40 years of service in providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition, D-Drill is matching its continuous investment in equipment and training with a portfolio of short and long term jobs that have demanded creative solutions.

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