News & Events
Demolition of Building A59 North Cave Line
12 April 2007
Steady progress with the WOMAD contract has recently been further demonstrated with the passing of another major milestone in the project concerning the decommissioning of the former A59 Active Handling Building at UKAEA Winfrith. Since August 2006 this project has reached the demolition phase and earlier progress centred upon the removal of the main building structure followed by demolition of both cave lines that originally formed the heart of the facilities. In late 2006 following demolition of the smaller South Cave Line there were concerns about control of dust from the demolition of the larger North Cave Line, particularly during periods of high wind. In response to this potential problem, NUKEM designed and constructed a sheeted and roofed scaffolding enclosure over the structure to ensure that the demolition dusts were carefully controlled, particularly during periods of inclement weather.
It is pleasing to report that following the erection of the enclosure, demolition of the North Cave Line re-commenced in early March and by the end of the month the whole steel-reinforced structure comprising around 1000Te of concrete had been successfully demolished as scheduled. The client, UKAEA, was particularly heartened by the achievement of this important milestone in the project, leaving now just the building slab to be removed and the site remediated. Work on the processing of the concrete debris for disposal largely as exempt materials is in progress. Staff should be congratulated at the reaching of this important milestone in the project with an excellent safety record.