Report on the demolition of a student village at Manchester’s Salford University.
The contract to demolish a large student village on the Salford University campus and create a wooded landscaped area has been successfully carried out by Manchester demolition contractors J Freeley Ltd.
The student village, situated on a 1.2 hectare site at Castle Irwell, had suffered from lack of investment and had become surplus to the University’s requirements, so the decision was taken to demolish it. The village comprised a total of 46 housing units in a number of three-storey accommodation blocks.
Health & safety was the top priority for the contract administrator, Paul Kirkup, from Salford University. Because of the high amount of heavy vehicle and demolition equipment movement within the populated area, separate entrance to the demolition site was constructed exclusively for J Freeley vehicles. J Freeley operatives were given a tight deadline to complete the demolition during a holiday period when few students were attending university.
“Vehicle movements were tightly managed and regulated throughout the project to ensure there was minimal disruption to the small number of university staff and students in the occupied parts of the accommodation area,” said Kirkup. He pointed out that sustainability was another key issue addressed during the demolition project.
“We were keen that as much demolition waste as possible generated during the project was recycled for future use rather than going to landfill. All metals, timbers, plastics and other materials were streamed and sent away for recycling. A total of 10,000 tonnes of concrete and bricks were
crushed and processed on site for use as recycled aggregates for future construction and civil engineering projects.”
As well as carrying out asbestos removal and demolition of the accommodation blocks, J Freeley were responsible for a range of ancillary works including service disconnection, car park construction and fencing. It carried out extensive landscaping amongst the retained trees. It then planted out the cleared area to create a green open space between the accommodation blocks still in use at Castle Irwell. J Freeley also laid footpaths through the area.
