Demolition of the Old Converter Building, Siderurgia Nacional - Seixal

This building, approximately 39 meters above ground level, was a reinforced concrete framed superstructure adjacent to an industrial hall and several operating infrastructures. Therefore, its integrity, operability, and safety had to be ensured throughout the entire demolition process.

Exceptionally, diamond cutting equipment was used to carry out the activities up to a height of 30 meters, with the support of a crawler crane with a maximum capacity of 200 tonnes. Below 30 meters, heavy mechanical equipment was used, namely hydraulic excavators with long-reach booms equipped with concrete and steel cutting and crushing tools.

This methodology enabled an efficient demolition process in compliance with environmental requirements, including low levels of noise and air pollution.

As in other projects of this nature, the resulting inert waste was processed on site using crushing equipment. Magnetic separation of the reinforcing steel present in the concrete was carried out using an electromagnet, along with granulometric separation of the mineral fraction to a size below 5 cm. These materials can later be reused as construction aggregates, particularly for cavity filling, embankment material (tout-venant), and road base and sub-base layers.