BALLARD’s were called to do a demolition job at North Street, Woorim on Bribie Island.

The asbestos removal component of the works was already provided for by another contractor for as the client had this work previously done, nothing to do with our process.  There was a long delay for the previous contractor’s work was unsatisfactorily signed-off.

We arrived to site on the Tuesday 23^rd February 2021, to undertake the demolition of two buildings in amongst large hi-rise apartments in this tourism precinct area.

The machinery that we needed to complete this job consisted a diverse range of our earthmoving equipment.  The “SuperCombo” is a big part of our project works and consists of a 3.5Ton excavator, a 3.9Ton Positrak and a 13.5Ton excavator.  We also bring a 12000 litre hydraulically powered water truck for dust suppression, as just using the garden hose will not give enough volume of water to suppress the dust from the demolition activities.  This ensures safety of the personnel onsite, and the public and residents. 

The water truck and excavator work in unison for as, the water truck operator must have the water always sprayed on the machine movements and then must place himself where he can’t be harmed from fallen debris etc.  The whole process can take anything up to two hours providing that there are no complications in doing this.

We then sort all the materials out from wood, concrete, tin and vegetation.  All materials are recycled at registered facilities where can be.  The wood is only salvageable whereby it is in a good condition as difficulty lays in carefully loading when damaged by wood rot, white ant damage, of odd sizes and nothing really of any value.

Our compliment of trailers is then engaged which includes a 50M³ and 30M³ trailers, along with our recently purchased ‘bin truck’ or also known as a ‘hook bin truck’ which has bins from 10M³ to 30M³ in size.  The ability to access this diverse range of equipment and chose either one, two or several items or options of bins, for loading up any construction and demolition waste materials.

The project requested was for a total block clear so therefore 50 percent of the trees had to go which included all weedy and unmanageable trees.  These are also recycled and are loaded into one of the large trailers/bins depending on the amount of material.  This is carted to an environmentally friendly cooperative which then in turn recycles the plant matter into mulch.

Our carbon imprint is substantially reduced by the recycling of materials where possible.

The entire demolition process on this job took three full 10-hour days of direct and intense sorting and loading. 

Once the debris is cleared off the site, we then undertake the sewer capping which consists of locating the actual sewer and capping to the main.  This process was hampered by the lower invert level encountered, as councils do not provide depths of location of the services, only the distances from boundaries.  The sewer was over two metres deep and took a lot longer in time to locate by excavating carefully.  Once sewer was located, the plumber cut the pipe and put the recommended cap on it.  It then moves to the capping of water meter and disconnects the actual line to the prior dwelling.  This is what is known as a Form 4 Certification which is required as part of our ‘demolition scope of works’ we provide for our clients as a goodwill service. 

On final exit, we washed down, loaded and hauled our earthmoving equipment on our 48 foot low loader back to our depot. Ballard’s then notifies the Building Certifier to complete the final assessment.  As part of our goodwill service, these two certifications are critical in the next stage of the process for our client, as these are required by the builder to start the building works.

We aim to ensure our clients are happy with our service and are very transparent in our dealings.

See our demolition page for more information.