Tsunami Memorial

We were chosen by Tsunami Support UK as main contractor on the Indian Ocean Tsunami Memorial in the Darwin Centre Garden at The National History Museum.

Overview

Made possible with a £550,000 grant from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, its purpose is to remember the UK victims that lost their lives. The single 140 tonne monolith was quarried in France and then transported by road to its final destination. A major logistical challenge, we called on the skill of specialist transport company Courcelle who used a 14 axle steerable trailer and a 6 axle traction unit.

We contracted Ainscough Crane Hire to carry out various lifts to manoeuvre the memorial into its final position. This included the use of a Gantry Crane to unload and reload the monolith and a tandem lift to flip the memorial the correct way up for its’ final orientation.

Our remit included full construction of the foundations, installation of the MacAlloy tensioning system, all temporary enabling works such as a temporary track way for transporting the monolith and cranes adjacent to the final position. We worked closely with all parties involved in the UK and France and were responsible for managing road closures and diversions around the Museum. Our long-term partner Miller Druck handled the final dressing of the Memorial and Yorkstone reinstatement.

We are immensely proud of our role in creating this important memorial, which can now be admired and used to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the 2004 tragedy.