UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI

THE POLYTECHNIC
FACULTY OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
DEPARTMENT OF QUANTITY SURVEYING AND LAND
ECONOMY

PROGRAMME : BSc IN QUANTITY SURVEYING

ASSIGNMENT : TWO

COURSE : ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION METHODS

SUBMITTED TO : MR A. DZIWE

SUBMITTED BY : GEORGINA CHIKWATI (BQS/14/PE/002)

DUE DATE : 19 MARCH, 2021.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4

DEMOLITION TECHNIQUES ................................................................................................................... 4

MANUAL DEMOLITION ....................................................................................................................... 4

Hand demolition............................................................................................................................ 4

CONTROLLED DEMOLITION .............................................................................................................. 5

Pusher Arm demolition ................................................................................................................. 5

Wrecking/Demolition Ball demolition.......................................................................................... 5

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 5

OUTLINE METHOD STATEMENT FOR THE DEMOLITION WORKS OF WFP’S EXISTING

OFFICE BLOCK AND WAREHOUSE....................................................................................................... 6

APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................................... 8

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 9

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Table of figures

Figure 1: An illustration of Pusher Arm demolition. Source: (Even-Har, 2014). ......................................... 8

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 INTRODUCTION
Site preparation is one of the first important activities that happen once a site is taken over for
construction works. Demolition of existing building where necessary is one way of clearing the
site (Chudley & Greeno, 2005, p. 15). Demolition of building works refers to the taking
down/removal of structure(s) as a whole or partially. This activity is considered to be of high risk
to safety and requires a skilled/specialist contractor (Chudley & Greeno, 2006, p. 271). Safety
precautions are put in place to control the potential identified risks depending on how the
demolition works are carried out. How the demolition works are carried out is described in a
written form and it is called the method statement (Brook, 2008, p. 153).

Demolition is a construction work entitled to preliminary considerations before the works

commence on site. A detailed and correct survey is carried out to identify any potential risks, for
preparation of the demolition plan and selection of demolition technique before demolition
works commence on site. As mentioned earlier, the demolition works are carried out by
specialized contractor(s) and the works are considered dangerous. The contractor requires an
adequate cover i.e. insurance including any third party that may be affected and claimed damage
caused by the works. Removal of hazardous materials and hoarding are some of the safety
measures for special protection put in place on site subjected to demolition works (Chudley &
Greeno, 2005)

Looking into the situation of the proposed site construction, the Office Block is surrounded by
Vinnie Paz road to the east, 10 storey Kang’ombe building to the west, Talib Kweli Service
station to the north and Spar Supermarket to the south. In this report, the outline method
statement has been described and various techniques to be used for the demolition of the office
block and warehouse at City Centre in Lilongwe have been discussed.

DEMOLITION TECHNIQUES
Demolitions techniques are divided two, namely: manual, controlled and explosive forms of
demolition (Chudley & Greeno, 2006). The following are various demolition techniques that can
be used for the demolition of the office block and warehouse at City Centre in Lilongwe.

MANUAL DEMOLITION

 Hand demolition

Hand held tools are used for the demolition works e.g. jack hammer, pneumatic hammer, etc. in
this technique to take down a structure. The demolition works take place in the reverse order of
the construction process (Pitroda et. al, 2015, p. 7). The hand demolition technique is said to be
cheap and not the fastest method yet the efficient method for safe demolition and where
salvaging is required (Potaka, 2018). Chudley & Greeno (2006, p. 276) advises that the
scattering ruins from the breaking down of the structure are allowed a free fall in horizontal

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direction, 6.000m and half way the height of ruins if the height is greater, from point of action to
the surrounding surface e.g. highway, adjacent property. According to (Pitroda et. al, 2015, p. 7),
this technique is effective for definite places that are very limited and requires implementation of
safety precautions for such restricted areas.

CONTROLLED DEMOLITION

 Pusher Arm demolition

This is a progressive method of taking down a building structure compared to hand demolition
technique. A heavy machine is strategically employed to bring down any masonry structure in a
short time compared to the manual demolition method. An experienced operator is required to
operate the machine (Chudley & Greeno, 2006, p. 276). Pusher arm machine demolishes
structure by applying a pushing force using the huge steel arm, to the structure e.g. applying
parallel push force to a wall to cause collapse. The machine is mobile and extremely capable of
doing many things. Figure 1 illustrates the demolition by pusher arm machine (Even-Har, 2014).
The machine requires an operational stabilized working space of at least 6.000m. The pusher
operates on height of structure not exceeding 600mm above pusher and from outside the
building. Hand demolition technique is employed to reduce any height of the structure exceeding
600mm above the machine (Chudley & Greeno, 2006, p. 276).

 Wrecking/Demolition Ball demolition

This is another progressive method of demolition. This method also adopts a skilled operation of
the machine and cannot be used on buildings with height exceeding 30.000m. The wrecking
ball/weight is released from lifting appliances against the building i.e. crane. There are different
techniques of suspending the demolition ball against the building i.e. vertical drop and swinging
in line with or pivoting the projecting arm of crane. For moveable duty cranes, this method is
restricted to vertical drop. The length of the projecting arm of the crane is kept at at-least 3.000m
above the building under demolition from the arm’s head. Similarly, hand demolition method is
used to remove the roof and detach any adjoining buildings and create 6.000m working space
around building as required (Chudley & Greeno, 2006, p. 277).

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

A combination of manual and mechanical working i.e. pusher arm demolition is recommended to
detach building and/or create space around the structure(s) to ensure clean reduction and
breakdown of the structures.

In conclusion, sustainability, waste strategies, client issues, risk management issues and
insurance determine the success of the construction demolition works.

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OUTLINE METHOD STATEMENT FOR THE DEMOLITION WORKS OF
WFP’S EXISTING OFFICE BLOCK AND WAREHOUSE
Site location The 10 storey office block project is located at
World Food Programme’s head office in
Lilongwe surrounded by Vinnie Paz road to the
east, 10 storey Kang’ombe building to the
west, Talib Kweli Service station to the north
and Spar Supermarket to the south.

Restriction/Access The public will not be allowed on sire or

around the adjoining yard. The road adjacent to
site will be temporarily closed to provide
adequate protection to sidewalks and the main
road I account of falling ruins from demolition.
The traffic will be directed to access other
road(s). Access to the spar store from site will
be allowed with adequate protection during the
contract period.

Sequence of work The aim is to start at with the demolition of the

warehouse and end with the existing office
block i.e. from the east end of the site to the
west. The recyclable and hazardous materials
will be removed first before demolition works
commence. The sequence of activities is
removal of the roof followed by demolition of
floors and finally the walls. Removal of ruins
will be carried out in the last quarter of the
contract period thus segregation and processing
to be done elsewhere and ensure a potential
reuse of site is guaranteed.

Design development Detailed drawings of the warehouse and the

existing office building roof will be produced
by specialist architect. The scope of the work
will be describes giving construction process
as guideline for demolition and any relevant
information..

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Temporary work The temporary works include: site preparation
working space, the erection of an independent
scaffold to each external face of the building,
shoring to provide support to adjoin property if
required and a mechanical plant for demolition
will be provided near the north-west corner.
For safety purposes, All site workers or site
visitors will be required to wear safety helmets
and operatives will use other protective
clothing i.e. the whole time when carrying out
works. Hoarding with sheeting around the
perimeter of the site and will provide barriers
next to all third parties. The site manager will
host and attend regular meetings with the other
consultants and cooperate with site regulations
to maintain a good safety record. The health
and safety plan will be developed by our
construction team prior to any potential risks
described. The health and safety file will be
reviewed periodically as the project progresses
with regular reports on each meeting at least
once a week.

Supervision The project and site managers will work hand

in hand on site supervision to meet our
project’s objectives.

Quality plan The site layout drawing will be designed with

assistance from the project team.

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 APPENDIX: The picture of a pusher arm demolishing machine.
Below is a picture of a pusher arm demolishing machine to create a concise picture of the pusher
arm demolishing method.

Figure 1: An illustration of Pusher Arm demolition. Source: (Even-Har, 2014).

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REFERENCES
1. Brook, M. (2008). ESTIMATING AND TENDERING FOR CONSRTUCTION WORK,
Fourth edition. UK: Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier.

2. Chudley & Greeno. (2005). CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY, FOURTH EDITION.

UK: Pearson Education Limited.

3. Chudley & Greeno. (2006). ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY, FOURTH

EDITION. UK: Pearson Education Limited.

4. Even-Har, M. (2014, April 16). Options for waste reduction and diversion. Retrieved 03
08, 2021, from Construction Canada: https://www.constructioncanada.net/wp-
content/uploads/2014/05/bigstock-Building-Demolition-43452889.jpg

5. Pitroda et. al. (2015, April). Retrieved 03 08, 2021, from ResesrchGate:
hhtps;//www.researchgate.net/publication/281174903_DEMOLITION_METHODS_AN
D_COMPARISON

6. Potaka, G. (2018, Oct 30). WHY DO WE CHHOSE HAND DEMOLTION. Retrieved 03

08, 2021, from MR CHEAP DEMOLITION:
https://www.mrcheapdemolition.com.au/why-do-we-choose-hand-demolition

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