Zero incidents: SRK Scaffolding at Inovyn Runcorn Power Station

Demolishing a chimney stack is difficult enough. Doing it inside a live plant, with asbestos throughout the structure and live pipework running within 30 metres, is another proposition entirely.

That was the brief for SRK Scaffolding at the Inovyn power station in Runcorn, working alongside principal contractor Hughes & Salvidge. The project involved stripping all asbestos-contaminated areas from the chimney, the precipitators and the E&I workshop, before Hughes & Salvidge demolished the buildings and the stack itself.

SRK provided access scaffolding, protection scaffolding and asbestos enclosures across the site and three constraints shaped every decision. The work had to proceed within a live plant area. Scaffolders were erecting around asbestos-containing materials. And the exposed site meant designing for significant wind loading.

SRK's in-house designer produced bespoke scaffold designs for both the chimney stack and the precipitators building, accounting for the asbestos present and engineered to withstand high wind loads. Separate protection designs covered all live pipework within a 30-metre radius of the stack, calculated to take a measured drop load should anything come down during demolition.

The scaffold was erected in line with the programme's key milestones. All asbestos was removed safely, and the chimney stack came down successfully within the live plant.

Most notably, the project has recorded zero health and safety incidents to date  a genuine achievement given the hazardous materials involved and the complexity of working around live operations.