April 6th, 2021

Surface Solve Street Cleaning Team Undertake Post-Construction Cleaning Project

Post-Construction Cleaning at Farringdon Elizabeth Line Station

When the Elizabeth line opens, the new Farringdon Elizabeth line station will be exceptionally busy, thanks to the combination of the London Underground, Thameslink and the Elizabeth line trains all passing through. In fact, at peak times, over 150 trains per hour will transit and with connections to three airports, it is set to turn Farringdon into one of the busiest London transport interchanges.

The Elizabeth line station has been built between Farringdon Road, Lindsey Street and Long Lane. It offers a central location between the cultural and financial centres of London with this new station stretching the length of Smithfield Market, a Grade II listed building, through to the iconic, brutalist Barbican complex.

The original Farringdon station opened in 1863, serving the Metropolitan Railway, making it the oldest on the London Underground network. This historic site now hosts a worthy new addition, forming part of the Elizabeth line.

In addition to the redevelopment and station improvements, Crossrail worked with Islington Council and the City of London on proposals for improvements to areas around the station. Once the bulk of the street level construction was nearing completion, it fell to the Surface Solve Street Cleaning Team, a division of the Go-Gum Group, to conduct a thorough post-construction cleaning and surface protection operation.

Post-Construction Cleaning Works

• Farringdon East /Long Lane North/Lindsey Street East – 380m² deep clean and Pave-Saver application to new paving.
• St. Alphage Gardens – 300m² deep clean and Pave-Saver application to new paving.
• Long Lane South – 180m² deep clean and Pave-Saver application to new paving.
• Cheapside Greening – 150m² deep clean and Pave-Saver application to new paving.
• Cheapside Greening – Stone planters/stone seating deep clean and Wall-Saver application.

Utilising two of our Go-Gum Lanceman DiBO hot water low pressure steam cleaning machines, two operators deep cleaned the newly installed paving and several stone planters, removing general construction dirt and detritus, revealing the new paving stone surface in all its glory.

Following on from the deep cleaning operations, the new paving received two applications of Pave-Saver pavement and stone protector. Pave-Saver protects natural stone and paving stone surfaces from weathering and helps them to remain clean by repelling chewing gum, water, airborne dirt, acid rain, smog, industrial pollutants, oil and grease, dust and organic growth (lichens & moss).

Wall-Saver, our invisible facade surface protector was applied to the stone planters and stone seating areas adjacent to Farringdon Elizabeth line station. Wall-Saver also protects stone substrates and aids cleaning by preventing contamination by paint, dirt, grime, oil and grease, organic growth, industrial pollutants and water.

Our street cleaning team completed this project during a single weekend, working around other contractor activities, to help with site congestion.

Commenting on the project, Go-Gum Managing Director Rob Dixon said: “Having worked on several successful post-construction cleaning projects allied to the rail sector recently, we were delighted to assist with this one too. Our experience on the Liverpool Street Crossrail station clean-up and Blackhorse Road junction upgrade meant we knew exactly what to expect with this job. In total, we deep cleaned and protected over 1000m² of new paving around Farringdon Elizabeth line station, which is sure to become one of the busiest new stations in London.”