Diamond-Cutting a Bank of England Vault in a Grade I Listed Building

This project involved the conversion of a Grade I listed building in the centre of London, housing a former Bank of England holding vault in the basement.

The deconstruction and removal of the heavily reinforced vault posed particular constraints on the work — The walls and roof of the building were built during the 16th and 17th centuries, and the concrete walls and ceilings of the vault were added much later and were tied into the existing structure in the majority of areas.

The structural engineer in charge of the project insisted that all work carried out on the building should be non-percussive to preserve the structural integrity of the original building – this applied even to fixing holes.

The only method approved was diamond cutting since this gives the advantages of minimum vibration and noise and reduces dust and debris.

Gnat was given just six weeks to complete the job using a combination of track sawing and stitch drilling to remove walls, floor and ceiling. The walls and ceilings were 350 mm thick, and the floor was nearer 700 mm thick. All were heavily reinforced, especially the floor, which had in fact, been designed to resist diamond drilling.

Blocks approximately 1-metre square were cut and removed using a 3-phase electric Brokk remote-controlled robot modified for lifting. These were transported away to another holding area, drilled and hydraulically burst into manageable-sized sections to assist removal from the tight confines of the basement area.

Hilti Track Saws and Drill Rigs were used for the sawing and drilling. These provided the high power needed for an arduous task such as this. Several suppliers were used for the consumables, but in general, Hertfordshire Diamond provided the 900 mm diameter saw blades and Golz the 107 mm diameter drill bits.

The job was completed successfully with two days to spare, including a hold up following the discovery of asbestos on site. Gnat's operatives are trained in asbestos awareness, and they alerted the main contractor when they came across suspect thermoplastic tiling. Work was suspended for a week for this to be dealt with by a specialist company.

The main structure was carefully monitored throughout the work, and no movement or damage was caused. The occupant of the office on the other side of the party wall — an ex-Prime Minister, was blissfully unaware of what was occurring only a few metres away.

Related context: Breaking Into Bank Vaults — Legally (No Sweeney Required)

Normally when you are breaking into bank vaults, there's a good chance you'll hear the words made famous by Reagan in the 1970s TV series The Sweeney " You're Nicked"

Thankfully, we normally just hear, the Main contractor's saying " Thanks Nick " to our Managing Director, when we complete the bank job on time!!

Contact our Group Sales Team on sales@gnatuk.com

www.gnatuk.com

#brokk #Husqvana #ConcreteCutting #tracksawing #ColdCutting #Tensilesteelcutting#DiamondDrilling #DiamondSawing #PrecisionCutting #CoreDrilling #CivilEngineering #NFDC #DemolitionSolutions #Demolitionhub#Restrictiveworkareas

Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7447932685961998336/

Related context: Demolishing High-Security Reinforced Bank Vaults

We Do Love Confined Space Demolition.

Ongoing changes within the banking sector and closure of numerous high street banks is resulting in an ever increasing number of premises being redeveloped by landlords. The conversion process typically involves changing the vacant premises back into Retail Units or Private Dwellings. However removing the High Security Reinforced Concrete and Steel Vaults is proving a huge headache for the Developers. Bank Vault Demolition Solutions — It's not supposed to be easy.

Gnat UK have a proven track record in Demolishing Bank Vaults and over the last 30 years have developed a range of Specialist Skills and Methods to Deconstruct and Remove them Safely and Quickly. Site conditions will dictate the optimum method deployed with available access invariably determining the size and type of Robot that can be deployed.

On sites with Restricted Access, compact robots are the preferred choice, for example the Rubber tracked BROKK 250, or the versatile, powerful Husqvarna DXR 250's are extremely manoeuvrable and able to access premises through doorways and then climb the stairs. Equally, when access is less of an issue, we can deploy larger Robots, including the mighty Brokk 800, which packs a mighty punch that makes light work of even the most formidable high security Concrete Constructions.

Recent deployments include a Brokk 800 3-Phase Electric Robot deconstructing a large bank vault in Hull.

Gnat UK has the largest fleet of 3 Phase Electric BROKK and HUSQVARNA robotic demolition machines in Europe, designed to operate in areas of demolition where Restricted Access or Environmental Hazard make conventional methods impractical.

We supply the full range and size of Robots and Attachments to suit every task. These are available for Contract Hire, with or without Operators.