Selective demolition at Zurich Airport

Modifications to the infrastructure at Zurich Airport as part of the Zurich 2010 project, the purpose of which is to provide the necessary infrastructure to make the airport even more attractive and convenient for arriving passengers, called for the deconstruction and rebuilding of Dock B and the control tower, both of which were built in 1975. This would allow centralisation of security checks in a new four floor central security check building to be constructed between Check-in 1 and 2.

Eberhard Bau Ag was brought in to carry out the demolition work, which commenced in July 2009. First, all HVAC installations were removed and then a soft strip carried out to remove all non-structural elements and components. A total of 66,000 m³ (2.3 million ft³) of material was removed during this phase out of a total of 86,000 m³ (3.1 million ft³), of which 140 m³ (5,000 ft³) of non-recyclable material was disposed of at the Hagenholz waste incineration facility while a 55 m³ (1,950 ft³) of plasterboard and gypsum waste was disposed of.

Eberhard used a Cat 385B L UHD for the demolition of the main structure with a reach of 30 m (98.5 ft) that could carry a 6 tonne tool to full height. First the 46 ton upper structure of the old control tower was lifted to the ground by a mobile crane and dismantled. The remaining concrete structure of the building stood at a height of 26 m (85 ft), well within reach of the Cat excavator. As the building was reduced, the Cat was reconfigured with a lower boom that could carry a heavier tool, in this case an in-house designed 11.5 tonne crusher.

A fleet of other excavators and wheeled loaders were used to process 10,931 m³ (386,000 ft³) of concrete debris and 1,800 tonnes of scrap metal was sorted for recycling. In all, the site generated a total of 48,000 tonnes of waste, with 80% of this to be recycled. Demolition activities finished on site at the end of October 2009 and construction work on the new building is expected to be completed during 2012.