Birmingham, UK
More than 140,000 people travelling to various destinations pass through Birmingham New Street train station on a daily basis – over double the number of passengers the station was originally designed for when it was built in the 1960s.
To improve the station and create more room for passengers, demolition experts Coleman and Company removed 7,500 tonnes of concrete from what used to be a car park. The demolished area was to become the new passenger concourse and ticket hall area, opened in 2012.
RMD Kwikform designed and supplied specialist trusses to help demolish and remove two floors of mezzanine car parking above twelve working platforms at the station.
Chris Holland, technical manager for Coleman and Company, oversaw the project. He said: "The first stage of the work we undertook was to clear a mezzanine slab level of car parking away to create a more attractive high-ceilinged environment for the concourse and ticket hall area.
“The challenges that we faced on this project were quite immense. The floor below was the only thing between the demolition and twelve active platforms of Birmingham New Street, so there was no room for error or disruption. - Chris continued
“In order to overcome these problems, we had to come up with innovative ways of taking down sections of concrete above the floor and removing them from the building without causing too much noise, dust and vibration. Most importantly, all of this had to be done without loading the floor, which is only designed to take the weight of vehicles.
“At the early stages of analysing the task at hand, we realised we had to use the strength of the main beams to take the weight of the concrete being removed. In order to do this, we needed to design a modular system that could be adjusted to use these strong points. Because the beams were not in a uniform lattice structure, we had to have a flexible option.”
Chris said: “The key to the project success was how we used the truss system to support the landing of the beam sections, some of which weighed 90 tonnes, and from there safely transport the sections off site. This was achieved by designing a gantry crane that was supported from the beams above the floor we were removing. Sections could then be removed using wire cutting and diamond saw techniques.”
Location
Application
Demolition and removal of two floors of old carpark above Birmingham New Street Station
Challenge
Demolition was taking place extremely close to active passenger platforms, leaving no room for error. Additionally, due to 140,000 daily passengers, dust, noise, and vibrations had to be kept to an absolute minimum on the site. All this had to be done without overloading the floor with excess weight.
Solution
Shoring
Products used
Having worked with RMD Kwikform in the past, Coleman and Company engineers were able to brief the technical team to come up with a solution that met the car park demolition project’s objectives. Working together, the teams were able to design a modular truss system created from our Megashor heavy-duty shoring and Superslim steel soldier components.
Neil Pagett, Midlands Sales Representative for RMD Kwikform, commented: “Coleman and Company had a major task at hand with this job, not only from a speed of programme delivery but from a health and safety perspective. This is why it was important that we worked hand in hand with the team on a day to day basis to help them meet what were exceptional challenges.
“From an engineering perspective, the Megashor and Superslim Soldier elements of the trusses were designed to lengthen and shorten, enabling the trusses to be used between the varied positions of the strong points in the floor, as and when they are needed.”
Chris concludes: “This project has shown that Coleman and Company are capable of carrying out technically challenging jobs. One of the key contributors to that success has been the work carried out by RMD Kwikform and has helped Coleman and Company deliver Network Rail’s vision of a station fit for the Twenty-First Century.”
Neil adds: “RMD Kwikform are well known in the construction industry for formwork and shoring solutions but, because of our engineering expertise, we are now getting involved in more customised solutions, such as the Birmingham New Street development.
“From a personal point of view, it is really rewarding to see that RMD Kwikform can use its engineering expertise to work on a landmark project such as this with Coleman and Company to provide solutions safely, on time and on budget.”