Demolition award for New Street station work

Over 7,000 tonnes of concrete were removed

A Birmingham-based firm has won an international award for its work on the redevelopment of the city's New Street station.

Coleman and Company removed over 7,000 tonnes of concrete as part of a project to create a new concourse.

Network Rail said the company had to do it with a "live railway centimetres beneath their feet" and a shopping centre above.

The firm won Contract of the Year award at the World Demolition Summit.

Chris Montgomery, Network Rail project director, described the job as an "extremely complex engineering challenge".

"We're now focusing on turning the huge space created into the new station concourse, which will now open to passengers at the end of 2012," he added.