Status: complete. Client: Meridian Construction Services. Location: retirement living site, Taren Point NSW. Scope: two packages. Hazardous material removal and strip out of a heritage Nissen hut standing on a timber deck over a mangrove marsh, and external demolition of hardstand, slabs, fencing and vegetation around the new buildings.
The hut is a piece of the site's history and it was staying. Our job was to get everything hazardous out of it and off it, cleanly, so the heritage contractor could take over a bare frame. That meant asbestos vinyl, lead paint, lead dust and old fluorescent fittings, all in a building you could not damage, sitting on bearers above ground you could not disturb.
What the job involved
- Site clean up around and under the hut: debris, old pipework, containers and rubbish cleared by hand, with sheeting laid under the hut to catch anything that fell during the works
- Removal of the asbestos containing vinyl floor tiles in the kitchen and northern end under an asbestos removal control plan, with air monitoring and a clearance by a licensed asbestos assessor
- Lead dust on the kitchen floor vacuumed up under controls
- Lead based paint preparation: external timbers wire brushed and vacuumed, internal timbers vacuumed, ready for the heritage contractor
- Removal of the lead painted masonite wall boards inside and out, and wire brushing of the steel structure behind them
- Removal of fluorescent light fittings with suspected PCB capacitors, the coolroom panel and gable, the joinery units, the tarps and floor coverings
- Loose rubbish and asbestos fragments picked out of the mangrove area around the hut by hand, no soil disturbance
- External package: saw cutting and breaking out of concrete slabs and asphalt, timber and mesh fencing down, trees and vegetation cleared, strip drain out, stabilised site access in
What made it hard
A Nissen hut is thin. Corrugated iron over a light frame on a timber deck, and this one was old. Everything inside had to come out without damaging the structure that was being kept, and the lead painted timber had to be prepared for the heritage trades, not stripped bare.
It sits over a mangrove marsh. The site is elevated, the ground under it is environmentally sensitive, and asbestos fragments were already in the area around it. Sheeting went down under the hut before anything started and stayed there until the heritage contractor was done, so nothing hazardous could reach the ground. No scraping, no excavation, no plant under the hut.
And the new retirement living buildings were finished or finishing a few metres away. Exclusion zones, signage and clean loadout mattered more than usual.
How it was run
Hazmat first, under the control plan: asbestos vinyl lifted and bagged, lead dust vacuumed with HEPA extraction, then the masonite boards off and the steel behind them brushed clean. External lead paint was wire brushed and vacuumed on the timbers that were staying. Light fittings came down and were kept separate. Everything was double wrapped, labelled and went out through the fenced compound to a licensed facility.
The clean up around and under the hut was done by hand and wheelbarrow, inside the fenced zone, with the sediment fence and shade cloth kept up the whole time. Air monitoring ran during the asbestos work and the clearance was issued by the assessor before the hut was handed on.
The external package ran as a separate mobilisation on the hardstand and open areas around the new buildings: slabs saw cut and broken out, asphalt lifted, fences and trees down, vegetation cleared, all in standard hours with trucks and dogs for loadout.
How it went
Hut stripped to its steel ribs and timber deck, hazmat out, clearance issued, heritage contractor in behind us. External areas cleared for the landscaping and civil works to follow. The mangroves were not touched.
If you have something similar
Heritage buildings with asbestos and lead paint, sensitive ground, occupied sites next door: this is the kind of careful strip out Perfect Strip Out and Demolition does across Sydney. Have a look at our demolition, commercial strip out, decontamination and make good and defit pages, or get in touch.
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Perfect Stripout & Demolition acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.