Demolition in hard-to-reach location requires thought

Demolition in inner-city projects with limited space and minimal accessibility is work for real professionals. That is why, for the work at the Meelfabriek site in Leiden, main contractor Van der Wiel Bouw chose a partner with a lot of experience in this field. After all, the location along the Zijlsingel also presents challenges for this project. For previous subprojects on this site, the main contractor engaged Amovatiebedrijf Aalsmeer BV. They also worked with this specialist for the asbestos remediation and demolition work on the Silotoren. With over 30 years of experience in demolition work, asbestos remediation, concrete drilling and container service, the Aalsmeer-based company can provide many references. 

The silo tower is located between a lot of other buildings at the Meelfabriek site in Leiden and also connects to the Zijlsingel. This makes this site difficult to access by cranes and trucks. The team of Amovatiebedrijf Aalsmeer BV had to look for a suitable solution to carry out the demolition work smoothly.

"We are working according to the Japanese demolition method," explains project manager Laura Vijfhuizen. "For this, we initially placed two small demolition cranes on the roof of the approximately 60-meter-high tower, which were used to demolish floor after floor. All the debris was thrown into the tower itself, so there was no need to continuously dispose of it as well. Just before the construction period, we replaced the two small units with two larger cranes, which we used to demolish the bottom three floors to the ground. These demolition cranes were brought in via the Zijlsingel and as of now we are also in full swing via this waterway to dispose of the debris."

At the end of last year, Amovatiebedrijf Aalsmeer BV already started asbestos remediation, especially of the roof and part of the facade frames. "At the beginning of 2022 we could start demolition. This work is expected to be completely finished in October. This is another very nice and challenging reference project, especially because of the tower's location and accessibility."