A Skanska Costain joint venture is pressing ahead with demolition works to pave the way for the vast HS2 station project.
Demoltion contractor McGee has just erected the first tower crane to start dismantling two multi-storey office buildings – One Euston Square and Grant Thornton House – which stand above the entrance and exit to Euston’s old underground taxi rank.
Rival specialist John F Hunt will also erect a tower crane to deliver its demolition package for the area to the west of the station.
Meanwhile, HS2 is expected to name the winning bidder for the Euston station rebuild within weeks.
Skanksa and Costain have been widely expected to secure the main £1.65m station build after securing the HS2 Euston tunnels and approaches track civil engineering contract.
The tower demolition package is expected to take around 10 months to complete and will be the biggest change to the Euston skyline for almost fifty years.
The two 1970s towers will be wrapped with accoustic screening, with 93% of the material from the building set to be recycled or reused.
HS2’s London Programme Director, Rob Carr said: “HS2 will transform Euston, delivering much-needed extra capacity and better journeys for the 44 million people who use the station every year. We are already hard at work, delivering essential pre-construction work.”
“The opening of the new taxi rank and the delivery of the project’s first tower crane is a significant milestone for HS2 and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it happen.”
CSjv’s Programe Director, Peter Jones said: “Costain and Skanska are pleased to be delivering the HS2 enabling works programme in London. Our work continues to gather pace and constructing this temporary taxi rank to replace the underground taxi rank is vital to allow us to demolish the two large office towers at Euston.”
Original article: www.constructionenquirer.com
