After weeks of careful planning by Connell Brothers November 2003 saw the beginning of the end for the stadium at Maine Road, which was the former home of Manchester City Football Club.

Along with the steel girders and masonry a million memories will come tumbling down over the next few months as Connell Brothers highly trained Demolition experts reduce this precious part of Manchester City’s History to dust with their army of state of the art demolition machines.

The project is being carried out on behalf of Manchester City Council to make way for the multi million pound regeneration of the Moss Side area of the City following the club’s move to the new stadium.

Connell Brothers are well versed and experienced in the field of Stadia Demolition following the successful demolition of Filbert Street, the former home of Leicester City F.C which was completed in the summer of 2003 accident and incident free.

This complex seven month project includes for asbestos removal, soft strip, demolition, crushing of materials and a reduce level dig. The package has presented numerous challenges such as the adjacent terraced properties and St Edwards R.C. school which is in close proximity. Liaison and planning are key elements to the safe execution of the works and monthly Residents meetings are being attended to reassure the locals that Safety is of paramount importance to Connell Brothers and will not be compromised in any fashion.

Further challenges facing Connell Brothers have included the high levels of media interest in the project which resulted in the incorporation of various press days within the programme to allow access for film crews and journalists onto site. Also prior to commencement there was a large scale auction of various items of memorabilia and souvenirs to the public.

The programme has further constraints in the sense that the sequence of demolition has had to follow a strict pattern in order to maintain the use of television aerial equipment which is located on the Platt Lane Stand. The Pattern of demolition has been specified as North Stand, Kippax, Maine Stand and Platt Lane thus Connell Brothers have had to carefully consider their approach to the works in the light of this fact.

With preparatory works completed the demolition project began in earnest with opening up works to enable asbestos removal and soft strip operations.

All heavy demolition plant was delivered to site out of hours to avoid congestion and inconvenience to other road users. Extra care was also taken to avoid school start and finish times

Prior to the main structural Demolition oxy propane hot works will be undertaken to pre-weaken the structures. Each stand was demolished in a specific sequence as detailed in the Connell Brothers structural engineers appraisal to avoid possible unintentional collapse.

The demolition of the stands especially the 30m high Kippax Street (seen left) has required the utilising of a variety of modern day demolition equipment including the addition of a new state of the art high reach excavator equipped with specialist hydraulic attachments increasing Connell’s fleet of high reach machines. This Demolition Machine reaches a staggering 41 metres and is recognised as the largest Demolition Caterpillar within the U.K reflecting Connell Brothers position at the cutting edge of the industry. It was decided to tackle the Kippax from one end thus ensuring that the bracings at the extreme two bays at each end of the cantilever roof structure maintain lateral stability throughout its demolition.

The Maine Stand has also presented unique challenges due to its construction. The cantilever roof structure is being supported by the top boom of a large span lattice girder and will also be best approached with a high reach shear equipped excavator. The supporting lattice girders may be cut and toppled following the removal of the cantilever roof structure.

In line with Connell Brothers environmental policy for sustainable materials apart from the hazardous asbestos waste and the soft strip material all other waste arising from the works will be recycled.

The final stages of crushing of all the concrete to 6F2 grade will then carried out with stockpiling for reuse on the proposed new development.

During the course of the project Connell Brothers will undertake a strict regime of Health, Safety and Environmental auditing of the works with regular visits from external advisors to ensure that it runs to programme without accident or incident and maintains the company’s enviable blemish free Health and Safety Record. The contract is also accredited to the Considerate Contractors scheme.

PROJECT TEAM
Client: Manchester City Council / English Partnerships
Project Management: Davis Langdon Everest
Contractor: Connell Brothers Limited
Planning Supervisor: Faithful and Gould

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