Essex car park collapses during demolition

ADVERTISEMENT

A car park being demolished in Southend-on-Sea has collapsed bringing down scaffolding and showering neighbouring streets with debris.

Five floors of the multi-storey car park came down unexpectedly during work to clear the site to make way for a £30m library for South Essex College.

Local residents told the Southend Standard that rubble fell into the streets as scaffolding was dislodged.

One said: “There was a massive explosion. It felt like an earthquake. Out the back it was thick with dust. All the scaffolding had buckled outwards.”

Demolition contractor Elvanite is working with structural engineers to discover what caused the collapse.

Southend Council’s strategic projects manager, Mark Murphy, said: “There was a collapse involving five of the floors.

“In accordance with health and safety requirements, the site is fenced off by safety netting and scaffolding. This largely contained the effect of this incident, and because of it, no one was injured and there was no damage to vehicles or other buildings.”

The picture of the collapse is courtesy of Demolition News

Via: Construction Enq

Most popular ↑

NASC updates TG30 with new birdcage system scaffold guidance

NASC has updated its TG30 system scaffolding guidance to...

Layher named Best Brand of the Year for 2026

Layher has received the PLUS X AWARD’s Best Brand...

Researchers test two-drone system for autonomous bricklaying

Researchers have demonstrated an autonomous drone system capable of...

Your complete guide to ScaffChamp 2026 in Vilnius

Everything is now in place for ScaffChamp 2026, the...

The digital foundations behind scaffolding’s next tech shift

NASC and CISRS have completed a comprehensive digital overhaul...

Latest news

ADVERTISEMENT
More from
Latest articles

Jersey gains first CISRS training centre for Channel Islands

Scaffolders in Jersey can now access CISRS training locally after Scaffold Training Academy Ltd...

Researchers test two-drone system for autonomous bricklaying

Researchers have demonstrated an autonomous drone system capable of placing bricks and applying adhesive...

NASC updates TG30 with new birdcage system scaffold guidance

NASC has updated its TG30 system scaffolding guidance to include a new range of...

Your complete guide to ScaffChamp 2026 in Vilnius

Everything is now in place for ScaffChamp 2026, the international scaffolding championship that returns...

Layher named Best Brand of the Year for 2026

Layher has received the PLUS X AWARD’s Best Brand of the Year 2026 title...

Scaffolder Conor O’Brien takes on 84km Bali ultra for children’s education

Advanced scaffolder and ultra-endurance runner Conor O’Brien is preparing to run 84km overnight across...

Charity football tournament to honour Wayne Connolly

Connolly Scaffolding is organising a charity football tournament in memory of Wayne Connolly, its...

New Bill proposes ban on retentions in construction contracts

The government is set to introduce a new Bill today that could bring major...