Monitoring of Stone Pinnacles at the Palace of Westminster

About

Parliament UK awarded a contract to Building Research Establishment Limited for a specialist surveyor to undertake detailed surveys of the stone pinnacles at the Palace of Westminster over an agreed period.

The surveys provide a non-intrusive and less costly remedy to assess the condition and risk posed by the stone pinnacles.

The project aims to mitigate and control the risk of the stone pinnacles, protect the fabric of the grade I listed Palace of Westminster, and ensure the safety of those on the Parliamentary Estate and surrounding areas.

There are 707 pinnacles on the palace, and individually testing all would be time-consuming and expensive.

Previous surveys were undertaken in 1999, 2007, and 2009, and results were analysed to establish a trend of movement.

The surveys need to be carried out regularly to monitor pinnacle movement over a long period to determine which are at risk of failing or exhibit too much movement.

The main objectives are to monitor movement to determine which pinnacles need repair (stiffening), produce a detailed and robust report with findings and recommendations for urgent repair or those 'at risk', categorize the stone pinnacles into Urgent (do it now), high risk (1-2 years), medium risk (2-5 years), and low risk (5+ years), and provide a graphical representation to demonstrate movement and distortion and to alert the Project Leader, the Principle Architect, and the Structural Engineering Consultant immediately of any stone pinnacles that pose an immediate health and safety risk.

The contract value is AUD 52,500.