QUEENS WHARF TOWER DEMOLITION
CLIENT
City of Newcastle
LOCATION
Newcastle, NSW
INDUSTRY
Government
DURATION
Sep 18 – Oct 18
SERVICE
Marine/Commercial Demolition & Deconstruction
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Queen’s Wharf Tower, which was erected in 1988 to honour a royal visit, was one of Newcastle’s landmarks. The city council decided that it was more cost effective to remove the tower, as its maintenance costs over the next four years was estimated at $1.6million.
The Queen’s Wharf Tower was a 40 m high steel framed central observation tower with elevated covered walkways extending west to the 6 Degrees function centre and south to the Newcastle CBD. The Tower was founded on the suspended concrete wharf, with several tubular steel piles providing support under key structural supports.
SCOPE OF WORK
The works included the deconstruction of the Queen’s Wharf Tower and the walkway leading to the Tower, and make good of the pebblecrete on the wharf. The main deconstruction work had to be completed over a period of 5 days.
UNIQUE CHALLENGES
Working next to a busy pedestrian area and street
Working close to occupied tenant space
Time constraints
Restricted access
Limited work area.
CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS
The company first rigged a 300 tonne crane to the top of the tower to take the load of the roof structure. The oxy cutters then worked from under the roof to cut columns and braces that supported the roof structure. After the cuts, the crane lifted the section off and placed it on the wharf next to a pad that was specifically created for Major Projects Group’s excavator to sit on.
Oxy cutters cut the remaining tower sections down to the bottom deck into 5 equal sections, and each section was removed using the 300 tonne crane. The company’s 32 tonnne excavator with shear and grab attachment cut each removed tower section into bin sized pieces and placed them into bins, which were transported to a scrap yard.
RESULTS
All major work was completed on night shifts to avoid any disruptions to the daily life of the Newcastle Public enjoying the wharf area. Our company completed the works on time, to budget, and without any incident.
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121 Woodstock Street
Mayfield, NSW 2304
