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Costain Skanska hands over Euston site to Mace Dragados

4 Dec 20 Preparations for HS2’s London terminus at Euston have reached a milestone as the two office towers outside the station have now been razed down to ground level.

The Euston skyline today
The Euston skyline today

HS2’s enabling works contractor, Costain Skanska joint venture (CSJV), has completed two years’ worth of demolition work, taking the 1970s towers to ground level.

Grant Thornton House and One Euston Square – designed by architect Richard Seifert – have made way for the new high speed station.

The actual demolition was carried out for CSJV by McGee.

The site has now been handed over to the station construction contractor, Mace Dragados joint venture (MDJV), which will complete the demolition of the basement below in preparation for the new HS2 station construction works.

To enable the demolition to be carried out, the buildings were encapsulated within an acoustic wrap to contain noise and dust. Excavators with breaking and munching attachments were then lifted to the roof using the site tower crane and then worked down the building demolishing floor by floor. More than 35,000 tonnes of reinforced concrete was demolished and processed on site for re-use on the HS2 Euston scheme, diverting 99.75% of waste from landfill.

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The final stage of the works, was to demolish the 2.7-metre-thick first floor slab of One Euston Square. This was completed in two stages. Firstly two 45-tonne excavators with breaking attachments were lifted on to the slab by a 450-tonne rated mobile crane. These machines removed 60% of the slab working from the top. Once complete they were lifted down and the works were completed using a 45-tonne and 60-tonne excavator from ground level.

HS2 Euston area director Laurence Whitbourn said: “We are really making significant progress at Euston to make way for the capital’s new high speed railway terminus. The successful demolition of these buildings to ground level has made a significant difference to the Euston skyline and is paving the way for the new station and oversite development. I want to thank Costain Skanska JV for their work to date to reach this stage.”

Costain Skanska JV programme director Dan Hunt said: “Of over 150 buildings we have demolished, these were some of the most complex to deliver due to the proximity to other buildings, location next to Euston station and the large reinforced concrete pedestal at One Euston Square. I want to thank the whole team who worked together to deliver this piece of work safely using a revised methodology due to the global pandemic.”

The progress has already changed the landscape around Euston, as almost all the buildings required for HS2 have now been demolished.

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