Loftus Demolition is one of Ireland’s leading demolition and civil engineering firms, with a proven track record going back to the 1950s. Based in Cork, the third generation family-run business has earned a reputation for expediting work safely, cost effectively and in an environmentally aware and no-nonsense manner.
The company operates across the whole spectrum of the construction industry and brings a knowledge and experience gained over the past 60 years to every project it undertakes. Loftus Demolition has carried out contracts all over Europe for a wide range of clients in the private and public sectors. Indeed, many of the same clients have been dealing with Loftus for half-a-century or more.
While maintaining its core values, the company has evolved over the years with the emphasis having shifted to place safety and environmental awareness at the highest level when planning or executing any project. The demolition and civil engineering business has traditionally been labour intensive and dangerous. However, recent developments in technology has resulted in innovation which minimise the dangers associated with demolition operations.
Loftus Demolition has invested heavily in such innovations and now operates a modern fleet of equipment which includes a range of high reach demolition excavators up to 46 metres; robotic remote control demolition equipment; cold cutting hydraulic metal shears; hydraulic concrete pulverisers; hydraulic selector grabs; hydraulic spark-free tank plate cutters; vibration-free concrete demolition munchers; concrete cutting saws; complete range of conventional excavators, rock-breakers from .75 tonne to 60 tonne; a fleet of multi-wheeler trucks, including specialist grab trucks.
“Our Komatsu excavator is the highest reaching machine of its kind in Ireland,” Hilary Loftus proudly states.
“It has a reach of 46 metres and is currently working on a contract we are carrying out on a disused hall at Waterford docks. We have a huge variety of equipment to cater for any demolition job. We are a well-established name in Munster and indeed throughout Ireland. We have also worked in the UK and Germany.
“While we have carried out some of the largest and most challenging projects in Ireland over the last 50 years, we carry out smaller residential contracts with the same levels of safety and efficiency. As well as being specialists in demolition, civil engineering, dismantling and structural engineering, we can also carry out asbestos removal.”
Loftus Demolition’s attention to detail, dedicated staff, state-of-the-art equipment and vast knowledge and experience has made it the market leader in its specialist categories. The Cork-based concern has the expertise and wherewithal to get your job done safely and efficiently.
Undoubtedly the most high-profile contract Loftus Demolition has undertaken recently was the demolition of the iconic Pairc Ui Chaoimh stadium in Cork. Over a four-month period last summer, the Loftus team demolished both spectator stands at the home of Cork GAA, leaving just the playing pitch and the two terraces. The demolition works were the first phase of a €70 million revamp of the old bowl-shaped ground into a top-class modern sports venue which will boast a 45,000 capacity when completed.
As a former Glen Rovers and Delaney Rovers GAA player and a lifelong resident of Cork city, it was entirely fitting that the contract was awarded to Hilary and his family.
“As a Cork GAA supporter, it meant a lot for me to be associated with that contract. My wife Veronica comes from one of Blackrock and Cork’s most famous hurling families, the Coughlan’s. Eudie and John Coughlan won several All-Ireland medals with Cork in the late 1920s and early 1930s,” he explains.
Hilary took over the running of the family business from his father and founder John, and now his son Roy is following in his footsteps. The Loftus’ have been responsible for demolishing many landmark buildings in the greater Cork area down through the years. These include the R&H Mill on Victoria Road in 1972 and the Magnasite Plant in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford for Pfizer Pharmaceutical 20 years later.
In the past decade, Loftus Demolition has enhanced its portfolio by carrying out an array of prestigious contracts. In 2007, the company was contracted by Bowen Construction to demolish a 60-storey concrete building constructed in the 1970s adjacent to the Grand Parade at Dartmouth Place in Dublin. The project presented its own challenges due to its proximity to the Luas line and the heavily trafficked Canal Road.
Also in 2007, Loftus Demolition carried out asbestos removal and demolition works on the O’Callaghan Properties Academy Street development in Cork. The project duration was 14 months and involved many different types of demolition procedures, including the use of robotic demolition equipment, high-reach demolition excavators and cold cutting equipment.
In July 2009, as a result of a fire, Origin Enterprises awarded the contract to demolish their famous Cork Docklands Miag silos to Loftus Demolition. The 24 steel silos, which were 55-metres high, were demolished using a 45-metre high reach excavator. All steel and concrete arising from the demolition works was recycled for reuse.
Another high-profile contract involved demolishing the Sarsfields and Bandon Road pedestrian overbridges in Cork in 2011. Loftus had just 72 hours to demolish the post-tensioned bridges which spanned one of the busiest junctions in Munster. The bridges were demolished to a designed sequence which mitigated the dangers associated with disassembling post-tensioned structures, using a combination of hydraulic pulverisers and rock-breakers.
All materials arising from the demolition works were recycled for reuse in the new road construction, while the contract was completed safely and 18 hours ahead of the 72-hour contract period.
Hilary concludes by saying: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty and support over the years. We look forward to catering for all their demolition needs for many more years to come.”
Loftus Demolition
Unit 1b Kilbarry
Enterprise Centre,
Dublin Hill,
Cork.
Telepho
ne: 021 4393661
Email:
[email protected]
Web: www.loftusdemolition.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, July 2016, Vol 2 No 3
