Pete Marquis choose Hyundai machines for major demolition contract

A trio of high-spec Hyundai excavators demolishes former NS&I offices near Blackpool

PRESTON-based contractors Pete Marquis have successfully dismantled a huge reinforced concrete building that once housed the National Savings and Investments (NS&I) bank, using specialist Hyundai excavators and attachments for safe, efficient and high-reach demolition work.

The regional eight-storey offices sat on a picturesque site adjacent to the large Marton Mere caravan park, on the outskirts of the seaside town of Blackpool. The building is now down and the site cleared for the development of up to 160 new homes. 

The varied range of equipment on site was dominated by three additions to the fleet from Hyundai – a pair of R520 excavators and a smaller R480-9A unit – all supplied by local dealers Taylor and Braithwaite.  

Working side by side, the larger Hyundai excavators (one equipped with a five-tonne Rammer hammer attachment and the other a Geith ripper tooth) were tasked with extricating large lumps of concrete and breaking them into more manageable pieces before they were fed into mobile crushers. 

Both machines have been supplied with full FOGs guarding to the cab and superstructure side impact protection, along with Geith quick hitches, auxiliary pipework and fixed leg brackets as part of their heavy-duty demolition specification.

Powered by a 12-litre Cummins QSX diesel engine (maximum output of 277kW), the R480-9A excavator, fitted with a heavy-duty 2.5 cubic metre-capacity bucket, was used to load a Terex Finlay jaw crusher with concrete arisings from the demolition work.  

All three Hyundai machines have had a constant presence on the NS&I project and have been extremely reliable since their arrival.

As an environmentally conscientious contractor, Marquis have endeavoured to recycle as much material as possible from the project. Soft stripping the building prior to demolition has ensured the material removed has not been contaminated and can be recycled or reused where possible. The concrete and masonry from the project has been run through a pair of large mobile crushers, which will be reused in the construction phase of the forthcoming development.