Merryhill has today completed a huge milestone, achieving practical completion at the Thamesmead project in East London. When initially constructed in the 1960’s, the Thamesmead estate was built as a large-scale social housing project utilising marshland to the southern bank of the river Thames.
The estate is now in the process of being demolished and the area rejuvenated by Peabody as part of a wider long-term project.
Merryhill has just completed the soft-stripping and full asbestos removal of Coralline Walk and the adjoining Evenlode House building. Coralline Walk is a building constructed across various levels and is over 250 metres in length. Inside the building were over 160 maisonettes, flats and bungalows, each with licensed materials within.
Each unit predominately consisted of asbestos insulation board (AIB) door header panels, ceiling bulkheads and a lined under-stairs cupboard. In addition to the AIB, most units had textured coating, floor tiles and asbestos-containing bitumen adhesive. All floors that needed to have bitumen removed were carried out using our Blastrac dustless floor grinding machines with integrated vacuums.
Merryhill utilised the services of a specialist soft-stripping company to remove all fixtures, fittings and partitions from each unit. All waste was segregated and taken from site for either disposal or recycling.
Outside of the individual dwellings, Merryhill also carried out some further large-scale asbestos removal works to communal areas including garages and high-level walkways. The nature of the construction at Coralline Walk was that garages were at ground level and all dwellings built above to prevent any risk of flooding from the nearby Thames. As a result, all walkway removals (as pictured above) had to be carried out with a protective scaffold to prevent any risk of falling during removals.
The project has showcased our ability to continue to work safely during the Covid-19 restrictions and ensure the project remained on track and budget. A credit to all those involved in the project!
