Latest News

D-Drill quietly removes Southampton Hospital roof

Press Release January 2010

Any drilling work at a hospital requires critical control of the noise level and timescale of the job, which is why C.G Comley Demolition appointed D-Drill for their expertise in the controlled demolition of a Southampton Hospital roof. The roof was situated directly above the main medical supplies entrance which is in constant use, and adjacent to live hospital wards, and therefore required extremely careful removal to avoid disrupting the delivery of these critical hospital supplies.

The work involved demolishing the 350mm thick reinforced concrete roof using a combination of 415v 3 phase high frequency Hilti TS-20E track saw for transverse cuts, and Dimas FS 71 HP diesel powered floor saw for longitudinal cuts. D-Drill also took along a 415v 3 phase 65 KVA generator to avoid using hospital supply.

The area was removed in two scheduled visits to the site, and due to the expertise of D-Drill the job was completed in just five days; four days ahead of schedule. The first section was 29 metres x 3.5 metres x 350mm deep which was cut into sections approximately 1.8 x 1.5 metres, each weighing 2 tonnes and lifted by a 100 tonne mobile crane onto lorries, this enabled immediate removal as there was very limited space within the site.

London and South Area Manager, John Barber comments, “There was no storage facility for the stockpiling of cut sections and there were hospital patients literally the other side of the boarded windows, which meant that conventional demolition methods of removal were not possible. Therefore specific load bearing support systems were designed months in advance to ensure that the whole area of the roof could be cut and held safely in place, which enabled a controlled and speedy removal process.”

John Barber added, “D-Drill were selected for this project because we were considered to have the preferred method of removal and offered the best solution for this particular contract with all the associated constraints.” 

Known for its 40 years of service in providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition, D-Drill is matching its continuous investment in equipment and training with a portfolio of short and long term jobs that have demanded creative solutions.

D-Drill Weston Super Mare Sea Wall Project

Published in the December/Janaury issue of PDi International.

Click here or on the image to the left to read the article.

 

Or click here to see the whole issue of PDi (online)

Diamond Tools ensured success of sea wall strengthening project

19 January, 2010

Specialist diamond tools were vital for the effective and efficient upgrading of the sea defence wall at Weston Super Mare. Plymouth Area Manager, John Barber and his team, drilled over 4,500 holes during seven months to complete the work.

D-Drill were contracted to drill holes through the granite and concrete of the sea wall to insert vertical dowels up to 3.5 metres deep. Also diamond saw cutting was involved to form 1,338 metres of a rebate 100mm wide x 100mm deep in order to secure reclaimed granite copings to the top of the wall. 

John Barber commented, “Due to the poor state of the existing sea wall, continuous diamond coring barrels seemed to be the most effective method of achieving the required depths to enable the installation of new dowels. In this case conventional drilling methods could have weakened the wall beyond repair, so the diamond tools used were crucial to the careful completion of the work.”

Due to the nature of the seaside job and the fact that it took place over the summer months, there was a constant flow of tourists nearby. Therefore safety was top of the agenda and D-Drill’s Health and Safety Manager, Ray O’Connor frequently visited the site to oversee the works until completion.

The work involved diamond core drilling 1,200 78mm diameter holes up to 3.5 metres deep in granite and concrete, as well as diamond core drilling 3,335 25-50mm diameter holes 1 metre deep. The work required special Diaquip extended length core drills which were custom made for this specific job; Hydrostress HCCB professional diamond core drill rig; Partner Hydraulic power pack; Partner Diamond Ring Saw and a Dimas 4 speed Hydraulic motor.

All work was completed on time and in budget, John Barber added, “D-Drill’s level of skill and professionalism has secured additional works with the main Civil Engineering contractor, Birse.” 

IACDS Invites to “The Very Best of Diamond Technology” at Bauma

by Peter White, President IACDS (as published in PDi issue 5-2009)

I have been a member of the American CDSA for some 27 years, which gave me the idea of starting the British Drilling & Sawing Association the following year and I am also a founder member of the ISCDS-IVBS, the World Association.

The benefits that I personally and my Company in general have obtained from the Association are tremendous. I can
draw upon the experience of members worldwide when it comes to information on complicated jobs, Health & Safety,
training, safety manuals, marketing and access to web sites, insurance issues, industrial research, specifications and
best practices and even accounting information, for good or bad of a drilling and contracting company. But the biggest benefit, I found, was that the problems that went on in my own company do happen world wide and you are not alone. Then talking to other member companies about these problems helped me and my company find the solutions.

With all my years of working and joining in the associations, my view is that it should be of a benefit and interest of all
drilling, demolition or any other type of company to join their trade association, whether large or small the benefits are
numerous. Small companies would benefit from what the larger companies have implemented and help networking and hopefully help harmony in the trade. When I visit all the annual conference through out the world, I always find very useful ideas being passed around the conference table I then come back to England with two or three new ideas
which we can then proceed to put into practice in my own trade association and my company. So in all I can
highly recommend any company in the cutting profession, demolition or any other trade to join there trade
association. One more fantastic benefit I have gained is that I have personally made some very good friends from the associations worldwide and holidayed with them throughout Europe and World.

At Bauma 2010 Fair ground, Hall B 1, Conference room B11 in Munich on Friday, 23rd April 2010, starting at 10.00 to 14.00 the IACDSIVBS (World Association of drilling and sawing) is holding a seminar on ‘The Very Best of Diamond Technology’ the subjects that will be covered are:-

• 10.00 on ‘dry coring and dry wire sawing in reinforced concrete by Martin Godickemeier of Hilti
• 10.30 ‘cutting methods using a minimum of water with efficient recovery of dust and slurry’ by Thierry Gillet of Husqvarna
• 11.00 ‘remote controlled underwater wire sawing’ by Franz Zeindler of Tyrolit
• 11.30 ‘hydraulic versus high-frequency motor driven concrete cutting equipment – the pros and cons’ by Johan Hartvik of Tractive AB
• 12.00 ‘hydraulic versus high-frequency motor driven concrete cutting equipment – environmental considerations’ by Johan Hartvik of Tractive AB
• 12.30 ‘nuclear power plants – large decommissioning projects by Franz Zeindler of Tyrolit
• 13.00 ‘post installed rebar – efficient methods of strengthening concrete structures by Jakob Kunz of Hilti
• 13.30 ‘floor grinding and demolition markets – new opportunities for growth by Thomas Nilsson of Husqvarna Construction Products AB.

For these seminars register on line at www.iacds.org.
Following on from Bauma on Monday 26th April the IACDS will be holding their world conference at the Ramada Hotel,
Salzburg, all association members from around the world are welcome to attend – SEE YOU THERE!

Peter White, President, IACDS

D-Drill Shard London Bridge Project

Published in the December issue of Concrete Openings. Click here or on the image below to read the article.
Orclick here to see the whole December issue of Concrete Openings (online)

“Has Health and Safety Training gone too far?”

by Peter White, President IACDS (as published in PDi issue 4-2009)

After the recent Drilling and Sawing, IACDS World competition and the presentation taking place in Las Vegas in February 2009 I was amazed at the quality and the diversitility of the contracts that took place, by all the entrants of the competition.

As I was one of the judges from England along side Jerry Hare of Jerry Hare Diamond Drilling, we both read and discussed all the jobs very closely and in detail. With the complex jobs undertaken there was shown an immense skill and attribute demonstrated by the operators. Over the years, world wide we have trained our operators to a highly skilled level. In my opinion we are one of the most skilful trades in the construction industry.

Bricklayers lay brick, plasterer plaster walls, floor layers lay floors and other trades follow their skills set. What I am trying to say is that our skilled operators are expected to wire saw, wall saw, floor sawing, hand saw, chain saw, diamond drill into concrete, stone, brick and many other materials. Some of our operators will have skills to operate Remote Controlled Demolition machines. The machinery to carry out these operations cost a considerable amount of money and need trained operators to perform the job required and to prevent damage or Health and Safety situations occurring.

We are now also offering our customers floor preparation and polishing of concrete and companies are now training their operators to use this equipment. Another operation and burdening on the operators is collection of concrete slurry and disposal of it in a green and environmentally manner, which is being demanded, by our clients and governments. In the early days our work was classed as unskilled labourer jobs and thanks to all the associations and manufacturers around the world, upgrading the training levels for our operators, our work has been recognised as one of the premiere leading trades on site.

Again thanking the associations and the manufacturers for a vast increase in interest in health and safety to our operatives and to the use of our equipment and machinery. All the associations around the world have training and safety courses and take these very seriously in deed. This has resulted in fewer accidents happening on site whilst using diamond drilling and sawing equipment. In Britain major accident
have only occurred when construction companies have hired in the equipment with no trained operators and have used their own unskilled operator.

The association has tried very hard to stop companies using this equipment without a qualified operator and stopping the plant hire companies hiring the equipment to operators without sufficient training. I do not know if this has happened in other countries and I would be
interested to know myself and if this is happening please could you let the IACDS know.

On the other hand my personal opinion is that Health and Safety in Britain has gone too far. It seems to be stopping simple things in life, that we take for granted, that one could do. It is a wonder that we do not have to produce a risk assessment and a method statement and hours of training and records to just get out of bed in the morning. It is a wonder that some government department has not thought of this, perhaps this does occur in other countries. Seriously I am a supporter of Health and Safety training and the skills training of the operators so that when jobs come along of a complicated manner that you can feel confident that you are able to send them on to jobs to carry
them out safely because of the high standards of training that they have received.

With D-Drill and the association one operation, which we are trying to take on board, is the GPR (radar) of concrete. We found that we do need a very highly trained operator who is somewhat used to reading images on computers to a fine degree, when most operators are
more hands on and find it difficult to work with computers everyday. Although, not to degrade the operators some companies have been able to find operators within their organisation that can, with training, interpret the information correctly.

The IACDS will be holding seminars during Bauma on Friday 23 April, 2010 by three main manufacturers on different subjects such as wire
sawing, drilling, demolition and other subjects.

Best wishes for the coming year and KEEP TRAINING!!

Peter White, President, IACDS

Drilling to the Core at Shard London Bridge

28 October, 2009

D-Drill was the first drilling contractor to be involved in the Shard London Bridge project. Sub contracted directly by Barhale, the D-Drill team was brought in to help establish the make up of the ground underneath the 28 year old Southwark Tower before demolition work could start.

Operatives trained to work in confined spaces, using breathing apparatus and escape kit, conducted inverted and horizontal drilling at the bottom of a 60 feet deep shaft which was part of a World War II shelter and long redundant underground station. Drill depths of 3 metres and 150mm diameters through reinforced concrete and cast iron liners were conducted to obtain core samples for material testing, necessary for the pre-demolition planning.

D-Drill London and South Branch Manager, John Barber commented, “It was great to be one of the first contractors on the Shard project, working on an old London site. D-Drill was brought in because of our experience and ability to drill in confined spaces and our understanding of demolition requirements.  We are now expecting to be involved in more drilling and sawing projects as the construction of the Shard continues.”

Shard London Bridge is set to become the UK’s & Western Europe’s tallest building standing at 310 metres (1,016 feet) and spanning over 72 floors.  The brainchild of Italian architect Renzo Piano, this prestigious project is set to complete by the end of 2011.  D-Drill adds the Shard contract to its long list of high profile jobs conducted across the UK in the last 40 years.

Quiet Cutting in Gateshead Hospital

22 October, 2009

Even the small jobs need the expert handling of the specialised D-Drill team. This time the North East branch, run by manager John Emberson, was called into Q.E. Hospital Gateshead to cut an opening in a new doorway within a live corridor. Using a hand-ring saw, power pack and pneumatic wet vac, the single door opening was cut within 5 hours without any disruption to the passing hospital staff, patients and public.

John Emberson comments, “Working in a live hospital environment brings several challenges, mostly the need for minimum noise and a ‘clean’ job. Contractors Fryer and Sons Construction contracted us for this job because, from their past experience of dealing with the team, they knew it would get done without fuss and at a very reasonable price.”

Of course, the important Health and Safety boxes were ticked with all personnel in protective clothing, the hoarding was erected close to the corridor side to protect the public and the power pack was placed away from the job. Small details that set a company like D-Drill head and shoulders above competitors.

If you would like more information about this job or need a specialist drilling and sawing solution in a challenging environment please do not hesitate to contact your local branch.

D-Drill Bites into Concrete Biscuit at Chocolate Factory

13 October, 2009

On the fourth floor of a chocolate factory in Chester, D-Drill got to work cutting out concrete sections for contractors Barry Callebaut Manufacturing UK Ltd.

The job consisted of four 1850mm diameter x 275mm deep heavily reinforced concrete ‘biscuit’ shaped sections, each weighing slightly more than the average chocolate treat at 1.65 tonne each.

Callebaut appointed the diamond drilling and sawing specialist because of the difficult access and control issues that are faced when dealing with food production line areas. D-Drill North West Area Manager, Neil Wood comments, "The team dismissed breaking out by mechanical means because of the obvious dust and debris that would result from this method. With access via a staircase plus demanding lifting capacities, a small goods hoist was also not advised. Our solution was to erect a suitable crash deck below the works area which was then tented and bunded off to contain any water ingress below. All our equipment was hoisted to the works floor 40 metres from the ground and reassembled in place. Openings into the concrete were created by ‘stitch cutting’ using a Zhorro Plunge saw then lowered down to ground level for removal.”

Typical of D-Drill’s ability to tackle challenging jobs, the Chester chocolate factory was able to continue online due to tight control of each step from set up to slurry removal via an IBC tank.

Known for its 40 years of service in providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition, D-Drill is matching its continuous investment in equipment and training with a portfolio of short and long term jobs that have demanded such creative solutions.

Morgan Est Appoints D-Drill for Live Substation Cable Removal

8 October, 2009

Safety was top of the agenda for D-Drill when they worked within a live substation in Liverpool recently. Morgan Est appointed the diamond drilling and sawing specialist to remove a high voltage reinforced concrete cable gantry using wire line sawing at height.

The major substation in Kirkby remained online during the 2 day project while the concrete sections were cut and removed from a height of 10 metres.

North West Area Manager, Neil Wood comments, “Due to the weight and location of the gantry it was not possible to use high reach crunching excavators as this would have posed a risk to adjacent transformers and local electrical apparatus. D-Drill was appointed because of its ability to provide a highly controlled wire sawing operation, at height, with fully trained BESC operatives. The positioning also meant that all equipment and the concrete waste had to be transported through live sections of the works.”

D-Drill, known for its 40 years of service in providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition, used a Hydrostress Wiresaw to complete the complex task with MEWPS (Mobile Elevating Work Platforms).

“Survival of the fittest”

by Peter White, President IACDS (as published in PDi issue 3-2009)

Martin Jennings said in a recent article for the Industrial Diamond Quarterly issue 1/09: “2009 sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin – somewhat appropriate in these difficult times were “survival of the fittest”, will most certainly describe those companies that manage to work their way through the recession and be in a position to pick up the reins once global conditions start to improve”.

On a side note I play golf at a famous Welsh golf lynx course that has been voted the 70th best golf club in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Our first captain in 1896 was Charles Darwin’s grandson, Bernard Darwin. His uncle started the course, Colonel Ruck, when he borrowed 9 flower pots from a lady in the village and cut nine holes in the march to place them in. Bernard Darwin went on to become a famous golfer, playing for England and a famous writer for the Times, reporting on Golf as his main sport. He also became president of our Golf club until his death in 1961.

Anyone who wishes to play the course please contact me at peterwhite@d-drill. co.uk and I will be glad to entertain you there as I am a past captain of 2007. Here is the course website if you would like to look it up www.aberdoveygolf.co.uk. To get back to Drilling and Sawing with a world wide down turn of work most companies have had to down size their businesses and will have had to, to survive. Most of the big world manufacturers have decreased their manufacturing capacity.

Over the last 44 years that I have been in the business I have seen tremendous development in equipment and technology in the demolition, diamond drilling and sawing industries and I do hope that the expansion of these technologies do not cease due to the lack of funding for these projects. We need the most advanced equipment to be able to tackle the larger and complicated contracts that are being undertaken today. I do wonder where a lot of drilling and sawing business is going to come from in the future. For instance take the town I live in, Coventry, England it was one of the biggest manufacturing towns in Britain after the second world war and continued through the 90’s, where we had a variety of manufacturers in the town such as 4 different car plants, we also manufactured cycles, motor cycles, planes, farm tractors, forklift trucks, tanks and field guns to the world’s largest machine tool manufacturers. We had large foundries, pressed tool manufacturers and many supporting engineering factories. With all these industries there was a lot of work to be had and plenty of employment for the local residents. But they have all closed down and Coventry is now not a manufacturing town in any shape or form.

Although with the loss of industry a lot of drilling and sawing work takes place and I often wonder where the business comes from. Perhaps I should have carried out a survey in my own company to find out where the new business had come from.

I strongly feel that both government and banks have not supported industry in the Western World so much that manufacturing has disappeared from most of the European and Western World countries.

I hope that all members of Drilling and Sawing and Demolition associations support their manufacturing members so that development of new innovations for equipment and techniques may continue.

There is talk of green shoots the first signs of the recession lifting and I do hope that this is the case for the sake of all of us and wishing everyone a good coming year.

Best regards

Peter White
President
IACDS

Newsline

August 2009 | download pdf

Julie White, Managing Director of D-Drill (Master Drillers) Ltd, a DSA member, explains why she chose the Builder’s Profile:

“When I first heard about the Builder’s Profile, I was sceptical, thinking it was just another scheme looking to make money. However, after six months, it has reduced the number of PQQs that we have to complete by 80% and I’m convinced! The beauty of the Builder’s Profile is that it has been designed to be adopted by existing schemes to collect the information they require rather than to compete with them.”

Peter White elected new President of IACDS

by Peter White, President IACDS (as published in PDi issue 2-2009)

Mr Peter White has been elected new President of IACDS (International Association of Concrete Drillers & Sawers). And here follows his first editorial column in PDi Magazine:

“This is my greatest honour to be elected as president of the IACDS at the annual conference in Dublin, Ireland, June 2009. I would like to thank Pat O’Brien from the USA for his presidency over the last 4 years and his guidance and hard work he put into the association. He will be a hard act to follow. I have been a great supporter of the international association since its first conception and have been to all the meetings. Over the years I have made some great friends from around the world and have picked up some great ideas on Drilling and Sawing on the working methods and safety. I have also passed these ideas onto the British Association.
I have been in the Drilling and Sawing industry for over 44 years and this step was taken after I completed my apprenticeship as
an electrician. I stumbled across diamond drilling and taught myself how to plan jobs and to safely use diamond drilling equipment. I opened my own company in 1967, which grew to be recognised as the UK market leader and operating 10 profit centres with nationwide coverage. This meant we could deliver a quick and cost effective service to the industry. I am very proud that my daughter Julie White has taken over the company D-Drill, and is carrying the company on into the future, in very difficult times.

27 years ago I went to the USA to the CDSA and received information on how to start a British association. I actually started up the UK drilling and sawing association the DSA to bring all companies together and help set training and
standard for the industry. This association is still going strong with 120 members still to this day. I have been on and off the board throughout the years and I am currently the chairman. I also spent 3 years on the board of the American
Association the CSDA, so I feel very proud to have been on the boards of the UK, USA and now the IACDS president.

I would like to say that the IACDS meeting in Dublin went very well and I would like to thank Diamond Innovations for the tour of their diamond manufacturing plant and for their sponsorship, also all the other sponsors.As we all know in this very difficult economic climate sponsorship is very difficult to come by.

From talking at the many associations the industry is going through a very difficult time worldwide. All companies
involved in contracting and manufacturing have experienced a fall in turnover to the tune of as much as 40% to 75%. The press are now starting to give some positive news on the recession worldwide but it will take some time to filter through the most hit industries such as the construction industry. All contractors worldwide must support the manufacturers who sponsor their trade associations and the world association.

I would like to say that all the entries into the diamond awards 2009 were all of an excellent standard and to congratulate the 4 winners for the great jobs they did and using huge innovation and technology to carry them out. The presentation for the awards was held at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas in February 2009. In my 44 years in the industry, the industry has come a long way and I am amazed at such vast, complicated jobs that we can achieve. We have come along way from the old days when we were not recognised as a trade and now we are recognised as a specialist trade in the construction industry and having a very highly skilled labour force with immense safety awareness.

I look forward to putting my thoughts, feelings and knowledge onto paper every few months for the bi monthly issue of Professional Demolition International (PDi) and hope I can help and pass my experience and knowledge past and present to everyone out there.

P.S. Everyone that went to the IACDS meeting in Dublin enjoyed the trip to the Guinness factory and after their tour drank their free pint of Guinness, one or two had more than one pint. Even the ladies seem to have enjoyed the
Guinness.

Best regards

Peter White
President
IACDS

D-Drill sets the Gold Standard for CSCS certification

October 2008

Diamond drilling, sawing and demolition specialist, D-Drill has recently been awarded Gold CSCS Certification – giving its customers the reassurance that all operatives have completed competence and health and safety training to provide them with a safe, efficient service. D-Drill is known for its 40 years of service in providing diamond drilling and sawing and robotic demolition to the construction industry.

“There is both an art and a science to drilling and sawing work,” explains Julie White, D-Drill’s Managing Director. “No two applications are the same and drillers and sawers have to be flexible enough to deal with hugely differing applications and materials.”

“Our training meets strict CSCS standards and we are very pleased to have been awarded a Gold Standard Certificate of Commitment – training and operator safety is of paramount importance to us and our customers.”

The CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) was set up to help the construction industry to improve quality and reduce accidents. CSCS cards are increasingly demanded as proof of occupational competence by contractors, public sector and private sector clients.

D-Drill gives Gold Certification assurance to its customers

PDi (Professional Demolition International) features D-Drill

October 2008 | download article

The October - November 2008 issue of PDi features an interview with Peter White and Julie White. Former and new Managing Directors of D-Drill.

To read the full article, download the pdf

D-Drill merges sister companies

September 2008

The final part of Coventry based D-Drill’s planned company changes are completed with the merging of its sister companies to bring all names under the D-Drill umbrella. This includes MBC robotic demolition and the specialist floor preparation service, which will continue to be known as Superfloor.

D-Drill Master Drillers Limited will now offer robotic demolition and floor covering removal, preparation and concrete polishing alongside its other services such as diamond drilling, wall chasing and sawing, chain, ring and wire sawing bringing a unique and complete service to the construction industry.

The merger of Superfloor UK Limited and MBC Specialist Services into the D-Drill name marks the end of a year of changes at the company. Julie White, daughter of diamond drilling pioneer Peter White completed a management buy out procedure to take over from her father who has recently retired after 40 years of uninterrupted business in Coventry and across the UK. Julie commented, “His business and reputation was built from scratch and I will step into these shoes and continue the pursuit of excellence.”

Julie took the decision to restructure the company to ensure that they are as tightly organised as possible. The merge of three companies into one keeps D-Drill Master Drillers streamlined in an increasingly competitive environment.

D-Drill Contracted To Demolish M4 Bridge Wing Walls

September 2008

Diamond drilling, sawing and demolition specialist, D-Drill, has recently completed a contract for the M4 motorway widening project at Cardiff Gate. Contracted by project leaders Carillion, D-Drill was brought in to cut the abutments at Rhymney and Rhydry bridges in preparation for the widening of the bridges, to accommodate a third motorway lane.

Read the full article on D-Drill demolish M4 Bridge

D-Drill Daughter Takes the Lead

May 2008

Julie White, daughter of Coventry business man and diamond drilling pioneer Peter White, has completed a management buy out procedure to take over from her father; as D-Drill (Master Drillers) Ltd and Superfloor Ltd Group Managing Director based on Shilton Industrial Estate. Read the full article Management buy out by daughter.