Lawson Group, leading UK demolition specialist, has recently put its fleet of Finning-supplied Cat equipment to work in Berkshire; demolishing the former MOD Aborfield Garrison site to make way for a new housing development.
Finning UK and Ireland supplied Lawson Group with a range of Cat machines, including a Cat 374 excavator.
The hydraulic power and renowned reliability of the Cat 374 was particularly useful when it came to the demolition of larger sections on site. Due to the scale of the project, Lawson Group benefitted from the ongoing service and support supplied by the Finning team.
Alongside the Cat 374 Lawson Group also utilised other Cat machines in its fleet such as the 365, two Cat 323s and two 336 Excavators.
Lawson Group were the principle contractor in the three-phase project to demolish the retired training base for Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, part of the former MD Aborfield Garrison site.
The demolition programme started in March 2017 and is estimated to be a 12-month long project. Phase three of the works, where all remaining buildings will be brought down, began in October.
The Hazebrouck barracks comprise of training centres, schools, accommodation blocks, medical centres and a museum. The demolition of the ex-barracks will see a new housing development of 3,500 homes come to the brownfield site.
The project has required a lot of forward planning and preparation due to the scope and scale of the works. Consisting of not only asbestos removal, which was carried out by Lawson Environmental, other works included waste removal, recycling, fencing and security, soft strip, and the maintenance of safe and clear access routes for third parties such as groundworks and tenants of the remaining buildings.
Commenting on the demolition works, Lawson Group MD, Martin Wilson said: “It has always been important for us 
to invest in high quality equipment and servicing that we can trust, which is exactly why we approached Finning. Due to the tight and strict programme times for the project we needed a partner we can rely on.
“The bigger Cat machines we bought from Finning have been used on a range of jobs including a mix of demolition to buildings and removal of footings and foundations, with some footings reaching a depth of 3 – 4m.
“It is the hydraulic power that allows these units to get to work quickly, loading material into crushers to demolish, remediate and deliver a job ready on site for the house builders. All of which is reliant on the equipment and services supplied from Finning.”
