Manly, NSW

This project is critical in understanding the extent of damage which is visible cannot be completely known until demolition work commences onsite. Client engagement and inviting them to site meetings thorough the construction stage allowed the client to understand and appreciate the variations based on the extent of damage uncovered and the amount of work required to remediate the building.
Minor sections of concrete spalling were evident on the soffits of the balconies. The eastern side of the building had more damage as such the committee proceeded to remediate the building in stages starting stage 1 on the two eastern balconies. Upon commencement of the demolition more than half the concrete on the balcony fall away due to the extent of corroded reinforcement hidden within the concrete slab and internal cracking in the concrete slab making it weak. This increased the extent of work to be completed therefore cost of the project but was critical in ensuring the work was completed correctly and structural stability of the balconies retained.
This project also saw a very large variation once the concrete spalling remediation commenced on a structural beam, the extent of concrete spalling was significant to the extent of which the entire side of the building had to be propped. To ensure the work to be completed without affecting the structural stability of the building; but also if the work was not completed the structural stability of the building would have been affected overtime due to the corrosion of the structural integral reinforcement bars within the concrete.
The building also had steel posts around the bottom of the building, dividing the car parking spots, with the posts embedded into the concrete driveway slab. As the steel was in contact with the ground over the years the base of the posts started to corrode. Once we started work to remediate the posts the extent of corrosion and steel post extended past the concrete slab, therefore require sections of the concrete slab to be demolition to allow for the remediate works. It should be noted the extent of this remediation also stems of poor design of the building with steel posts located at ground level and constructed through the concrete slab – where typically steel posts are located on plinths raised above the ground level to prevent such corrosion and deterioration.
The construction practices and design of a building will always affect the extent of remediation to be completed and the unknowns to be discovered once demolition commences onsite. It is not always possible to pre-empt the unknowns or contingencies on a project, but we do our best to manage the variations and stakeholders during these types of projects.