Things Are Looking Up

Birmingham based DSM Demolition started demolishing three 16 storey tower blocks - Birchfield, Calder and Tweed - on the Birchfield Road Estate in the Hansworth district of Birmingham on the first of February.

Affordable transformation
The tower blocks, which were built in the early 1960s and stand 47 metres tall, are being demolished to make way for 270 affordable flats as part of a redevelopment by Urban Splash, the company behind the transformation of the former Fort Dunlop building. DSM is using a Hitachi EX 1200 excavator fitted with a 62 metre Kocurek high-reach boom – one of the biggest in the country - to demolish the towers down to about eight stories when conventional excavators will take over. "The Hitachi machine represents a £1m investment for DSM, but it is worth it as this was by far the safest and quickest means of deconstructing these high-rise blocks,” says DSM managing director Robin Powell.

Peak Operating Condition
Site manager Declan Bolland is similarly impressed with the 62 metre giant but says that it has placed specific demands upon preferred hydraulic hose supplier, Pirtek Birmingham. "We have used Pirtek Birmingham for many years. In fact, licensee Andy Connell was an MSST when we first started dealing with them. We have built up a superb rapport with Pirtek and their engineers,” Declan Bolland concludes.

Bit Bigger
“Our current MSST Ian Cochran was completely unphased at the challenge of keeping our Hitachi machine in peak operating condition. He simply grinned and said, 'no problem, the hoses will just be that bit bigger'. There are plenty of other hose suppliers around but none that could provide the level of service we receive from Pirtek Birmingham.”