Recycling & Environmental Award

Winner

Despe

Country

Italy

Project

Former Dogano site, Milan

Also shortlisted

Lloyd’s Construction Services (USA);

Perfect Contracting (Australia);

Priestly Demolition (Canada)

Judges said

“The standard of entries across the board in recycling and environmental made this a very difficult category to judge, but the range of industry expertise brought together for Despe’s project just edged it in the end”

Summary

Contractors from three continents fought out the Recycling and Environmental category – but in the end it was Despe who triumphed, to provide the fourth European winner of the night. Described as “a monumental project that was completed in record time,” Despe had guaranteed to complete a notional 12-month project in just five months. This comprised removing 60,000 sq m (646,000 sq ft) of roofing, 12,000 t of railway ballast containing asbestos, and the further reclamation and demolition of all the reinforced concrete structures in an area of 450,000 sq m (4.85 million sq ft).

The winning entry had some similarities with the Collaboration award won by Kiewit/Manson as Despe appointed 13 demolition experts to help draw up a procedure and logistics plan to ensure rapid switching from reclamation to demolition works, while the equipment used in Liebherr 984 and Case 800 machines.

The company said: “The overlapping of works and management of the removal of asbestos, secondary crushing and demolition works, without a single hiccup, no delays, and in just five months, is the result of huge mechanical, technical, logistical and management capabilities and resources and much more.

“This demolition work required maximum attention to detail as there were various materials such as asbestos in the environment we were working in.

“The experts we trained specifically for the job – and the project we drew up including the tiniest details – made it possible for us to return a perfectly clean area to the city in record time.”