The new face of Cat demolition

July 1, 2025 Video

As we reported exclusively just a short time ago, Gilles Ronnet – Caterpillar’s much-respected demolition specialist has begun a well-deserved wind-down to an equally well-deserved retirement. (You can read all about that here; or you can watch our exclusive interview with Gilles here).

But Caterpillar has wasted no time in finding a suitable replacement to fill Gilles’ formidable shoes. The company’s new demolition specialist is Jean-Christophe Etienne; a man who brings with him significant experience coupled with a genuine passion for and curiosity about the demolition business.

He has timed his arrival to perfection. Over the past few years, Caterpillar’s focus on the demolition business has intensified.

The company has a full suite of UHD demolition machines, together with straight boom alternatives. Furthermore, the company offers a comprehensive line-up of demolition tools that are a match for anything in the market.

During the recent European Demolition Association Study Tour to Italy, DemolitionNews caught up with Jean-Claude Etienne for this exclusive interview.

Dem-Master at the double

June 30, 2025 implosion, Video

Demolition experts from Dem-Master, ably assisted by explosives engineers from Safedem, have carried out the precision demolition of a pair of tower blocks in Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland

The inevitability of change

June 30, 2025 Long Form

We work in an industry in which change is the only constant.

There was, I am sure, a board meeting at the Hymac headquarters in the 1980s during which the company’s directors congratulated themselves on another year of success and looked ahead to more of the same. By 1993, Hymac had gone the way of the dodo.

There was likely a time when manufacturers of motor scrapers could see no end in sight to their global domination of the muckshifting space. Aside from a recent semi-resurgence, scrapers are now about as current as flared trousers and glam rock.

In much the same way, I am sure that diesel engine manufacturers the world over were projecting production and profits that stretched to the horizon and beyond. The sun hasn’t yet set on diesel engine manufacture and supply; but it’s certainly setting. We are in the dusk of diesel.

All of which goes to prove that the passage of time has a nasty habit of making preconceptions look foolish.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #959

June 30, 2025 Video

In today’s show: The Liebherr 980 Demolition rig goes to work; Bobcat aims big with the E220 excavator; John Deere and a legacy of loyalty; and we’re heading back to Italy to visit the factory of attachment giant, Mantovanibenne.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: The inevitability of change.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

The Great Divide

June 27, 2025 Long Form

There has always been a divide between the ruling and political classes and real people. And never is that divide more evident than during times of war and conflict.

THEY declare war and drag US into battles they have no intention of fighting themselves. When they say “WE are at war,” what they really mean is that YOU are at war. They’ll be over there, quaffing champagne at the taxpayers’ expense, until it’s time to go on TV and claim “OUR” victory. Prime ministers, presidents, and kings would, I’m sure, be a little less trigger-happy if they were required to pull the trigger themselves.

But that disconnect between them and us does not begin and end with war. Here in the world of demolition and construction, we too are part of the “Royal we”; expected to do the hard work and embrace the danger while someone else takes the credit and the glory.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #958

June 27, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Caterpillar’s 330UHD demolition rig reaches out; Ward Demolition tackles post-quake clean-up; we’re with Rock N Dirt in the US; and we’re taking a tour of the Laurini factory, where the machinery maverick makes the impossible possible.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: The Great Divide between what a government says, and what it actually does.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Longing for the past

June 26, 2025 General

When you reach a certain age, it dawns upon you that you have more life behind you than you do ahead. So perhaps it is natural to long for the past and to mourn its passing.

I look back at those I have lost personally. Family and friends. I look back at those we have lost professionally. People we worked with, people we admired and looked up to. Colleagues and co-workers; industry pioneers and industry leaders.

Even though most would agree that modern demolition and construction equipment is better in every conceivable way than the machines of yesteryear, we still long for those names from the past: Aveling Barford, Benford, Broyt, Drott, Hymac, O&K, Poclain, Priestman, Smalley. All those great names either swallowed up or gone forever.

Yet there is something I miss almost as much as the people we have lost; and perhaps more than the machines. It is hard to describe; impossible to define; intangible. It is not so much a thing as a feeling. But this industry used to feel different. Better.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #957

June 26, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We’re meeting the new face of Caterpillar’s commitment to the demolition industry, Jean-Christophe Etienne;; Liberty Industry demonstrates its environmental credentials; runway resurfacing at Reagan Airport with Wirtgen; and Kemroc might have the world’s first excavator attachment for those getting divorced.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Longing for the past.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

When ambition outpaces reality

June 25, 2025 Long Form

In our pursuit of environmental targets, are we in danger of putting the cart before the horse?

As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, the UK once reshaped the world through steam engines and coal.

Today, we’re trying to reshape it again; this time in the name of sustainability. We’ve shut down major coal power plants, set aggressive targets to stop petrol and diesel car sales, and now we’re extending that ambition to large-scale demolition and construction equipment.

But what happens when policy ambition leaps ahead of viable technology and infrastructure? That question should concern every operator, contractor, and fleet manager who struggles with equipment that simply isn’t ready to switch.

And, frankly, it’s a question that should have been addressed already; before these ambitious environmental targets were even set.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #956

June 25, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We have the World Premiere of our film of the new SETTANTA high reach excavator from maverick manufacturer, Laurini; there’s a new film featuring my personal pick as the best machine at Bauma 2025 – The Komatsu PC220LCi-12; we’re taking a spin in the latest ADT from Powerplus; and LiuGong goes electric.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: When ambition outpaces reality

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.