Tarleton Academy, Lancashire

The project consisted of the demolition of a former secondary school on the same site as the new build Academy.  The demolition site was adjacent to the live school and within a residential area.  The buildings ranged from single to 5-storeys and were of traditional brick construction with flat roofs.

We carried out an initial soft-strip of the buildings to prepare them for asbestos removal, which followed on systematically around the buildings.  Some new school buildings were close to the buildings to be demolished so a temporary protective shield was erected in these areas to avoid any damage.  Once each building had been cleared of asbestos and soft-stripped, it was demolished using a combination of our high reach demolition excavator and standard demolition excavators.  One of the buildings previously contained a swimming pool, which was drained, grubbed up and back filled with crushed demolition arisings.  Additional crushed material was used to backfill and level the remainder of the site, which was subsequently handed back to the client for them to form a car park.

With the site adjacent to a live secondary school, deliveries to and from site were stopped during school drop off and pick up times.  In addition, dust, vibration and noise and dust were potential problems during the project.  We utilised dust boss machines and water hoses integrated on the excavator arm to suppress the dust arising from the demolition process.  Throughout the project we monitored noise and vibration at the site boundary using our own noise and vibration monitors.

This was our second project for Willmott Dixon Construction on the back of a successful project which we completed for them in 2022 in Newcastle-under-Lyme and we have been asked to partner with WD on a scheme for them at Wigan & Leigh College.