Scarisbrick Hall School is a grade 1* listed building near Ormskirk in Lancashire.
PDL was engaged, initially to provide an access scaffold for engineers to inspect the structure of the tower attached to the school, in order to provide a structural report and schedule of works required to repair and maintain the structure. Once the initial phase had been completed we liaised with scaffold design engineers to provide a full safe working platform for repair works to continue. This was made more complex due to the desire not to have to tie the scaffold to the existing structure. Ties were designed and installed to tie the scaffold through various openings in the structure.
Further alterations were then made to the scaffold as it was realised that works would be difficult unless a goods/passenger lift was installed to the scaffold. This additional load meant a redesign of the scaffold structure to ensure it remained safe to work on. It is intended that the scaffold will be extended using cantilever platform to fully enclose the chisel head at the top of the spire. In total there are 24 lifts of scaffold (approx48m high) on the current structure with a further 6 lifts required to the chisel head.
All of the works were undertaken whilst the school remained open. This meant men having DBS checks and risk assessments/method statements including the additional risks associated with school children at various times of the day.
The refurbishment works to the tower are anticipated to last between 3-5 years.