Update on Bridge Street 30 March 2010
The external scaffolding has been removed from 15 Bridge Street. Although some redecoration including shop signage awaits completion the renovated façade is clear to see.
Nick Jones, resident agent for the Grosvenor Estate, said, " We are really pleased to see the street almost back to normal in time for the busy Easter weekend and thank everyone involved for their ongoing commitment to achieving this".
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11th March 2010
Work continues apace on the repair and rebuilding of 13 Bridge Street and 15 Bridge Street Row. The affected load bearing beam has now been replaced and the brick façade above it re-built. Once the mortar has dried the next stage will be to remove the steel supporting pins that are strapped through the building.
We aim to have the scaffolding that is currently obstructing the row level and the internal support scaffolding removed by Tuesday 16 March. Once this is done the two businesses affected within our building, Sayers bakery and the Panasonic shop should be in a position to re-occupy and resume trading although there are some minor internal making good works to do in the Sayers unit which may slightly delay their re-opening. This means that Bridge Street should be back to normal by the beginning of April.
Nick Jones, resident land agent for the Grosvenor Estate said, “In the meantime, we were pleased to be able to help facilitate, with the support of the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, a temporary relocation of the Panasonic business into St. Michael’s Row where they have been trading for a week.”
We then anticipate being able to remove the remainder of the scaffolding approximately two weeks later once redecoration work has been completed. We have had temporary signage produced for affected businesses (in the main this has been fitted to the hoarding around the scaffold at street level) in an effort to keep the general public informed. Works will continue in earnest throughout the forthcoming weekend. Updates continue to be sent out to those businesses directly affected and those in the immediate vicinity.
Nick Jones added, “We are very grateful to our various advisers, contractors and the local authority for their hard work and support in trying to resolve this matter so speedily.”
For further information contact: Nick Jones 01244 684400 or Jane Sandars 0207 312 6157
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Bridge Street Update 3 rd March 2010.
Following the reopening of Bridge Street and the majority of affected businesses on February 22nd works to safely remove the damaged timber beam were completed on the 28th February with a steel replacement now installed in its place.
Efforts are now being concentrated on cleaning the dismantled brickwork and rebuilding the façade and second floor mullioned window in accordance with the Listed Building application. Following this, the steel pins that were initially installed to support the façade will then be removed and further localised brick work repairs carried out. Finally, the rebuilt facade will be redecorated.
Works are progressing well although at the present time we are unable as yet to give a definitive date when the scaffold will be dismantled because progress in part is weather dependent.
We continue to thank everyone for their patience whilst works progress to completion. Further updates will be posted in due course.
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Bridge Street Chester 22nd February 2010 Update 16.30
Chester’s Bridge Street is back in business.
Following a weekend of hard work to shore up 13 Bridge Street/15 Bridge Street Row the building is now deemed to be safe and the safety cordon across Bridge Street has been taken back. The Dangerous Structure Notice has now been lifted from the building.
As a result four businesses; Lowe and Sons, Maya, Arden News and Principality Building Society, which were forced to close on February 10th reopened at noon today. The cordon has now been reduced back around the scaffolding and the street is now open for vehicular and pedestrian access.
Another two businesses - Purely Wicked Milkshakes and Sushi Bar will reopen at 8am tomorrow morning. (Feb 23) Hoarding and protective barriers have been put in place to protect the scaffolding.
Construction experts spent the weekend erecting steelwork within 13 Bridge Street/15 Bridge Street Row to strap the building together. This crucial work has made the building safe enough for this positive action to be taken. The two businesses housed in 13 Bridge Street/15 Bridge Street Row are to remain closed while further work takes place inside the building. Both tenants have been kept up to date on developments and Grosvenor is in regular contact with them.
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Bridge Street, Chester
19th February 2010 @ 17.30pm
Update on progress regarding works to make safe 13 Bridge Street/15 Bridge Street Row.
Works will continue throughout the coming weekend (20th – 21st February) to complete the construction of the scaffold framework that will eliminate the risk of the buildings collapse. In addition, works will be focused on opening up pockets of the brickwork façade to take steel structural supports that in turn will pin this to the internal scaffold already constructed and in place. This work needs to be completed on a methodical basis with each hole being opened and the steel work installed before the next is created and the same procedures followed. We have also recently completed work to tie the roof down to the internal scaffold structure.
Upon completion of this work we propose to meet with the Police, Highways Department, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Building Control Department and our appointed Structural Engineers to sign the building off as safe and remove the Dangerous Structure Notice currently in place. It is envisaged that this meeting will take place in the early part of next week. Once the building has been declared safe the cordon across Bridge Street will be removed. Progress of this difficult and delicate part of the work will very much depend on local weather conditions, especially if we see further snowfall over the weekend.
Before the cordon is removed we propose to fit a timber painted hoarding around the perimeter base of the scaffolding which will improve security, appearance and define the boundary of the remaining works. This hoarding will be erected over the weekend in anticipation of the removal of the cordon.
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16th February 2010. 18.45
Update on progress regarding works to make safe 13 Bridge Street/15 Bridge Street Row.
Works continued last weekend and good progress is being made on eliminating the risk of the buildings collapse. Efforts currently are being focused on the construction of an internal load bearing scaffold structure to transfer the weight from the upper parts of the building down onto ground level. Once this element of the works has been completed the front façade then has to be strapped back to the rear elevation to prevent it from falling out into the street. When these tasks have been completed we are confident that CWAC Building Control will then deem the risk of collapse to have been sufficiently mitigated to enable the cordoned off area to be opened for vehicular and pedestrian access. Contractors are working extended hours today to knock holes in the front façade to accommodate the straps that will tie the building together.
Understandably, the focus for all at present is when will these works be completed to enable the street and businesses to re-open? Following feedback from the contractors on site today and our professional advisors it is most likely that stabilisation works will be completed at some point next week (ie commencing 22nd February 2010). It is still very difficult to be precise about a particular date as the enabling and facilitation works are changing on a day to day basis as the intricacies of this building’s historic construction unfold.
Further updates to follow
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17:00 12 February 2010.
Over the past 24 hours progress has been made to erect scaffolding inside the building and at street level to shore up the walls and our professional advisers have been concentrating on design questions and how to programme the work which will help to avoid the building collapsing. The Health and Safety Executive have confirmed that it is now safe for specialist contractors to work inside the building.
This is a step by step process and work will continue over the coming weekend to stabilise the building.
In the interests of public safety and security we have appointed a security firm to undertake foot patrols of the area through the night.
We have spoken to each of the retailers affected by the evacuation and other property owners involved. We have also been in regular contact with Cheshire West and Chester Council and the local authority is to issue notices alerting the public to the fact that, apart from the cordoned off area, Bridge Street is open for business as usual. We ask the media to emphasise this important point.
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11 February 2010
Yesterday morning we had to evacuate the area surrounding 13 Bridge Street and 15 Bridge Street Row. This followed a detailed structural inspection carried out on Tuesday 9th February by Grosvenor’s in-house maintenance team and a consultant engineer. Using a cherry picker we were able to get close to the beam at first floor level and remove the surface layer of paint. This revealed that the load bearing beam was rotten and potentially incapable of supporting the several tonnes of brickwork above. There would be no way of knowing how long it might or might not continue to support the building.
As a result of our findings we alerted the Cheshire West and Chester Council who have served a ‘dangerous structure notice’ on the building. As yet we do not know why the building has deteriorated so rapidly but it may be that the recent snow and bad weather is a factor. We shall know more about this in due course.
Our immediate priorities are twofold: first, to eliminate any risk to the public and second, to minimise the disruption to the businesses affected and enable them to return to business as usual as quickly as possible.
Our number one concern is, of course, to ensure that the building does not pose a threat to public safety. The first stage to tackle this is to erect scaffolding to shore up the building – this has started today. The second stage will involve taking down the damaged façade and this will take longer. Our expert advisers, together with the authorities are urgently considering the best way to do this and the situation is developing hour by hour.
We recognise that this must be a very worrying and frustrating time for the retailers affected by this and we have been in touch with them all today. We are doing all we can to resolve the situation as quickly as possible so that they can return to business as usual. We recognise that trading has been disrupted and we are talking to our insurance advisers to see how this issue will be addressed. We have recommended that the retailers alert their own insurance brokers of the situation and we will follow this matter up with them as soon as we possibly can.
We will issue updates as news unfolds.
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10 February 2010
A major structural problem has been identified in the building at 15 Bridge Street Row in the centre of Chester.
This came to light during a routine visit when hairline cracks were noticed by our surveying team and it was decided to check the structural integrity of the building. The building is listed grade II and is part of Chester's historic Rows, dating back to the 1860s.
On 9 February the building was surveyed in detail and a major structural weakness identified in a particular supporting beam which was found to be rotten.
We immediately notified the local authority who decided to evacuate the building, currently occupied by the Panasonic store and Sayers the Bakers. Seven other neighbouring businesses will be directly affected until the building is made safe.
We are working in full cooperation with the local council and all relevant authorities to ensure that the necessary repairs are made as swiftly as possible in order to minimise business disruption. However, public safety is our paramount concern and we will not allow access until both the Grosvenor Estate and the key authorities are certain that the repairs have been completed and that the public risk has been eliminated.
Further updates and responses to questions posted via the Contact page on this website will be given as soon as possible.