EDS

Source: Energy Digital

Date :20/04/2007 00:00:00

EDS: From demolition to regeneration

From asset recovery to demolition, EDS offers a range of decommissioning services. By expanding its operations into land remediation the company offers a complete decommissioning and regeneration package for its clients

Written by James Hurley & Produced by Alex Smith

Established for over a decade, European Decommissioning Services Ltd. (EDS) has become one of the most successful and major decommissioning and demolition contractors in the industry; providing the skills, resources and flexibility to deliver all types of projects safely on programme and within budget.

From a £3.5 million turnover in 2000 EDS has shown very impressive growth, and produced a £25 million turnover for year end 2005. A relatively young company, it was founded in 1994 to offer specialist dismantling and demolition services with a difference, focusing on client satisfaction, superior safety standards and a company ethos of team work. It specialises in working on high risk sites for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries with projects ranging from demolition of oil refineries, chemical process structures, pharmaceutical production lines and highly contaminated buildings to controlled explosive demolitions of multi storey office blocks and other structures/buildings on site. Over the past few years, the company has expanded into land remediation, recognising that there is a need to clean the land for redevelopment and re-use after buildings have been demolished.

By offering the wide sphere of activities EDS can present a turnkey project management solution for the client, from initial asbestos surveys/removal, equipment dismantling, building and equipment decontamination to demolition and land remediation.

Decommissioning & demolition

EDS’s primary activities are decommissioning and demolition. The EDS team has unparalleled knowledge and experience in the decommissioning industry, offering a full scope of turn-key quality assured services on an inter-continental basis. The company is able to offer many unique attributes to benefit its clients. When tendering for major projects EDS offers Performance Valued Engineering (PVE) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), presenting many options to improve health, safety and environmental performance during the decommissioning process and offering a tailored, quality assured and professional contract solution.

The company’s management team has significant experience in all fields of decommissioning from asset recovery through to land regeneration, having successfully completed many projects for international Blue Chip clients including oil refinery decommissioning, chemical plant decommissioning, pharmaceutical facility decommissioning, agrochemical plant decommissioning and MOD site decommissioning. Expertise in closure management allows EDS to offer consultancy services in project management, planning incentives, risk analysis, cost minimization and compliance with legislation.

EDS is also highly experienced in the demolition of structures and plants which have reached the end of their working life. These demolitions must be carried out with a high degree of knowledge and expertise. The demolition techniques used include remote mechanical methods and the use of controlled explosive charges. EDS has significant expertise in all aspects of demolition from initial budget costing through structural assessment to final completion. Demolition projects carried out by EDS typically include high rise steel structures, process plants, large storage tanks, multi-storey concrete buildings, manufacturing facilities and chemical and pharmaceutical plants.

Safety management

Safety management is clearly a crucial consideration for any company involved in this kind of project and health, safety, quality and the environment are all priorities for EDS. The company employs methods of working which are based on minimising risk and maximising the quantity of materials from the structures which are recycled. This is facilitated by the pre-planning of demolition work sequences followed by careful segregation of materials at each stage of the work. EDS has successfully carried out many demolition projects in close proximity to sensitive areas such as live operating plants, residential areas and public places including roads, railway lines and footpaths.

All methods of work are selected following an initial risk assessment at tender stage by the company’s experienced management team. Following an initial assessment, a complex structure would require the services of a consulting structural engineer who specialises in the analysis of buildings which are undergoing demolition; either by tradional methods or controlled explosive demolition.

EDS invests in the latest plant and equipment technology on an ongoing basis, resulting in a safer and more environmentally friendly service. The company also works to reduce the need for personnel to work at close quarters to the structure being demolished, thus resulting in a safer working environment.

The employment of technologically advanced equipment minimises environmental emissions in the form of noise and vibration. For example, specialised demolition shears are used for the cutting and processing of heavy steel sections, avoiding the need for traditional hot cutting methods and the associated inherent risks this process carries.

EDS ensures that stringent management controls and monitoring procedures are applied to maintain its excellent safety record.

Land remediation

As the first major industrialised society, the United Kingdom has inherited a huge legacy of contaminated land created by its past land use. The Environment Agency has estimated that there are some 300,000 hectares of land in England and Wales affected to some extent by contamination left by industrial activity. The need to manage that historic contamination has created a growing remediation marketplace to bring contaminated land back into beneficial use.

The sector has been growing steadily over the last ten years – its value was recently estimated at £700 million – and has seen significant developments predominantly due to changes in legislation and the drive to redevelop brownfield land. The UK Government has set targets for building 60 percent of all new housing on previously developed land.

EDS aims to take advantage of these changes and has been developing its land remediation work in recent years.

After it has decommissioned a site it can now regenerate it for future use; the land remediation option means that EDS can provide a complete decommissioning and regeneration package for their clients.

EDS regeneration projects are undertaken using in-house resources to provide a sole-source, total project delivery service to its clients. The company has a proven track record in the reclamation of contaminated sites, using a wide range of remediation techniques to reduce the overall dig and dispose scenarios which have traditionally been used. Using in-house facilities, EDS offers a range of remediation techniques including decontamination of above and below ground facilities, vapour extraction, ground water and effluent treatment, asbestos removal and disposal, and ex-situ and in-situ boi-remediation. This involves the use of microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

The company is part of the environmental services association and is accredited in ISO 14001; environmental considerations clearly form an important consideration for EDS, and by combining the ability to regenerate contaminated land with its demolition and decommissioning work, the company has developed a responsible and cohesive environmental policy