The all-new and truly enormous Demolition magazine is HERE!

I will readily admit that, to an editor or journalist, magazines are like our babies. We nurture them and care for them and, all things being equal, we watch them grow and blossom. And oh boy has our baby blossomed.

The Demolition magazine – which, let us not forget, was started purely out of a frustration with the incumbent industry magazines and their narrow and biased focus – has evolved to become a true shining light.

And the latest issue – all 110 purple-hued pages of it – shines brighter than all that have gone before it.

This issue is RAMMED with industry content, and really is a must-read for anyone within the global demolition industry.

The paper copy will be dropping like a safe onto the doormats of subscribers very soon. But why wait when there is an electronic edition just waiting to caress your retinas and stimulate your brain.

You can check it out below:

Scottish gas blast throws spotlight onto subject of service disconnections.

It is now more than a week since an explosion ripped through a building in Scotland that was scheduled for demolition.

At the time of the blast, an asbestos removal crew was working inside. Two men were severely injured, and one of them has subsequently died from his injuries. His colleague remains on a life support machine.

It is too early to speculate as to the precise cause of the deadly blast, and investigations are ongoing on site. However, all the signs are pointing towards a gas explosion.

Only the findings of a Health and Safety Executive investigation can state categorically why the gas service to the building remained live so close to the point of demolition.

But this tragedy once again throws the issue of service disconnections into stark focus.

And this is a subject that we addressed in this episode of Demolition News Radio:

All-new, all high-def edition of Demolition TV is available to watch NOW!

We’re 11 episodes in and Demolition TV requires no introduction. Suffice to say that this awesome new episode features contributions from Downwell Demolition, One Stop Recycling and Sandhurst Ltd.

So switch off your phone, sit back and enjoy Demolition TV.

If you’re in the UK, take a size 8 shoe, and would like a FREE pair of site boots, then read on!

In conjunction with our friends at workwear specialist V12, we are offering one lucky UK reader a chance to win an awesome pair on size 8 site boots.
There are no fancy questions; no challenging tasks; and no sign-ups.

For your chance to win this pair of box-fresh V12 site boots, all we need you to do is send us an email containing your name and postal address including the postcode. Send you entry to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk.

We will put all the entries into a hat (or possibly a boot) and the boots will go to the first name selected at random.

The competition will close on 17 November 2017.

Please note: This competition is open ONLY to UK residents; and the boots we are offering are a UK size 8. There are no alternative sizes available.

Our belated coverage of the latest successful Dykon blast.

This spectacular implosion took place a week ago yesterday. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, it managed to slide undetected beneath our news radar until one of our readers – thanks Russ – alerted us to our oversight.

The film below features the controlled implosion of the Jones Building in Centennial, Colorado.

Built in 1984 as the headquarters of Jones International Ltd, the property will be turned into The Jones District, a 42-acre, mixed-use project that Opus Development Company boasts will make the site Centennial’s largest commercial development.

Police investigate following incident at Glasgow’s Queen Street station.

A woman has been struck by a section of falling plasterboard at Queen Street Station in Glasgow.

The plasterboard is believed to have collapsed from the ceiling next to the ticket desk and struck a female passenger.

LOcal newspaper reports suggest that the protective structure is part of the ongoing demolition works at the building.

The woman has been taken to hospital after suffering minor injuries.

No other passengers were injured.

Read more here.

Why should a working man pay £51 for “permission to work”?

Several years ago, just after my eldest son left full-time education, he went for a job interview with a company that was allied to the plumbing business.

As my son was still quite young and since this was his first formal job interview, I took a keen interest. The advertisement looked kosher; the premises from which the company operated looked smart if functional; and the process up to the interview was handled with the utmost professionalism.

The “interview” went well and my son was offered the job. Well, I say he was offered the job; by which I mean he was offered the “opportunity to buy £500 worth of stock that he could sell for more than £2,000 by going door-to-door to hotels, restaurants and hairdressers…”

My son was genuinely disappointed when I told him that this was, in fact, a scam and that no-one should be expected to pay for the privilege of earning a living.
I was reminded of this just yesterday when I was contacted by a reader who had been told that his new CCDO smart card was going to set him back £51.

Given the way that training and competence cards are structured in the UK demolition and construction industries, a man (or woman) requires a competence card to be allowed on site and to be allowed to work.

Technology affords such schemes a variety of added benefits, not least of which is security. In a week in which it has been widely reported that there are bogus CCDO cards in circulation, that security carries a value.

And, of course, card schemes and training requires management and administration, both of which also carry a cost.

But surely the priority for the companies and organisations involved in issuing and managing these cards should be the workers, not turning a profit.

Penalising a working man to the tune of £51 merely so he may be permitted to work is tantamount to daylight robbery. And it is a subject that we address in the latest episode of Demolition News Radio.

New CDI video provides unique perspective on massive bridge demolition.

Back on the 2 October, while the dust was still settling, we brought you footage of the demolition of the Kosciuszko Bridge in New York.

But now, the explosives demolition company responsible – Controlled Demolition Inc – has released its own film of the blast. Show from multiple angles, it captures the blast in fine detail.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln dorms set to fall on 22 December.

After more than two years of planning and consultation, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has finalised plans for the razing of Cather Hall, Pound Hall and the attached Cather-Pound Dining Centre.

The dining centre will be the first to go, with removal via heavy construction equipment starting 30 October. Once cleared, the dining centre space will provide a primary landing area for the 13-story Cather and Pound towers, which will be knocked down via a controlled implosion on the morning of 22 December.

The actual implosion time is scheduled for 9 a.m. A backup date of Dec. 23, with the same schedule of Dec. 22, has also been planned.

University officials selected these dates to coincide with reduced activity on campus. The implosion will take place in the week following December commencement activities, a time when no classes are held and the vast majority of students have left for Nebraska’s winter break. In addition, Dec. 22 is the day before the university’s winter shutdown, which continues through Jan. 2.

Read more here.

Man hurt in Scottish gas blast dies in hospital.

A gas explosion victim has died in hospital five days after a blast at a former convent.

Police have confirmed the 23-year-old succumbed to his injuries yesterday in hospital while a second man is still fighting for his life.

Two workers who were clearing asbestos last Thursday from the pastoral centre on Bonkle Road were rushed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We can confirm a 23-year-old man succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Monday, October 9 2017. DemolitionNews understands that the man killed was employed by asbestos contractor Enviraz Scotland.

“A 26-year-old man remains in hospital in a serious condition. A joint investigation is ongoing with police and the Healthy and Safety Executive and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”