The concrete contract for the 20 Fenchurch Street office development in the City of London, dubbed the 'Walkie Talkie', has been awarded to P.C. Harrington Contractors Limited.

In a fillip for the local economy, the Southall-based company was awarded the contract by Canary Wharf Group to pour the concrete for the substructure of one of London’s landmark new office buildings. The terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Starting this month, P.C. Harrington will pour 28,000 cubic metres of concrete into the building’s foundations, equivalent to 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools, supported by 6,000 tonnes of steel reinforcements sourced from Nottingham steel works. The largest single pour is around 2,300 cubic metres.

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As announced in October 2010, 20 Fenchurch Street is being jointly developed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, with the latter acting as construction manager. Completion to ground floor is planned for February 2012 and final completion is anticipated in 2014.

Approximately 165 people, including three apprentices, will work for P.C. Harrington on the concrete works. The entire project is supporting around 3,000 jobs throughout construction.

Cormac MacCrann, Executive Director of Canary Wharf Contractors Limited said: "20 Fenchurch Street has come a long way in a short space of time. Since construction began in January we have put in over 300 piles, finished the excavation, installed cranes and we're rapidly preparing for the first of the concrete pours."

(CD)