The key elements of the demolition process: technical, environmental, health and safety
The key to a successful demolition is good planning, which should be supported in three basic elements: technical, environmental, and health and safety.
TECHNICAL:
The demolition must be technically feasible. A site survey must be done to determine the state of the construction, the works to be carried out and the required means (both human and technical) must be verified.
The works to be carried out must be planned, choosing the most suitable demolition technique (or techniques) for this purpose:
- Manual demolition:
Set of operations organized to demolish a construction, partially or totally, with the majority use of manual means.
- Mechanical demolition:
Set of operations organized to partially or totally demolish a construction using machines. It is necessary to maintain partial stability of the construction. This type of demolition can be carried out using various techniques:
- Demolition by thrust
- Demolition by traction
- Demolition by impact
- Demolition by mechanical fragmentation
Mechanical demolition, in all its variants, is based on the use of specific load-bearing equipment for demolition (robots, backhoes, excavators, etc.) with specific implements for demolition (hammers, primary demolition, secondary demolition, multiprocessor, etc.).
- Demolition with explosives:
It consists of the controlled detonation of explosive charges, strategically placed in a construction. The loads are positioned so that the construction can be folded down in a predetermined direction.
Additionally, it must be determined if, due to the state of the structure and/or the characteristics of the demolition, auxiliary means, such as shoring or bracing, are required. In that case, they must be carefully planned and calculated to ensure stability.
ENVIRONMENTAL:
Regarding the environment when planning a demolition, two aspects must be considered. On one hand, an environmental impact assessment must be done, and on the other, the waste management must be carefully planned.
The environmental impact assessment aims to determine the environmental impact the demolition entails on the physical environment, in order to establish the preventive and corrective measures to be used during the works to avoid and/or minimize the impact on the environment.
For its part, the waste management during the demolition must be planned in advance in order to do it in the most effective way. On this matter, to achieve the circular economy objectives, methods of waste management aimed at reuse and recycling will always be prioritized.
For this, an inventory of construction and demolition waste will be carried out, and the quantities of resources and wastes will be estimated. Subsequently, on-site and off-site management proposals will be undertaken and the required means for the management will be established
Regarding a circular economy, it is very important to keep always in mind that the waste that is stored must be properly separated and labelled according to its characteristics, paying special attention that hazardous wastes are not mixed, neither with general waste nor between different types thereof.
HEALTH AND SAFETY:
The last key aspect to consider when planning a demolition is health and safety. The work carried out to demolish a construction must be always done in a safe way, for both workers and people in the immediate vicinity of the demolition.
A risk assessment must be done to define the measures to be adopted in relation to the prevention of such risks, which may occur during the demolition. Both collective protection measures and personal protective equipment will be determined.
On this matter, it is essential to investigate if there are present in the site any hazardous substances to plan the measures and the possible decontamination is necessary to protect the workers and third parties who are in the area.
Additionally, the hygiene and well-being facilities for the workers will be planned.
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