Scaffolding bill on McAlpine’s Big Ben refurb tops £3.5m

By Thomas Lane2018-05-17T06:02:00

More than 20,000 components used to help clad Elizabeth Tower

The last of the scaffolding being used on Sir Robert McAlpine’s scheme to refurbish Big Ben was slotted into place last week at a cost of £3.5m.

Work to fit the first of the 24,000 components required to clad the 104m high tower began back in April 2016 and Charlotte Claughton, senior project leader for parliament’s client body, Strategic Estates, said: “This is thought to be the largest freestanding scaffold in the world at the moment.”

Work to renovate the Elizabeth Tower, as the structure is officially known, is set to be completed in 2021 and involves restoring the stonework and cast iron roof along with the refurbishing the clock faces.

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