Delays continue to pile up as boiler blast is delayed again.

The implosions of the Mohave Generating Station’s boiler structures have been delayed again.

The implosions, originally scheduled for November, had been rescheduled for today. But, according to Gil Alexander, Southern California Edison spokesman, the blast has been delayed while other parts of the defunct coal-fired power plant in Laughlin are dismantled for salvage.

“The target date for the boiler structure implosion is late April. Between now and April the turbines will be dismantled for potential reuse by another company. We anticipate that decommissioning work will be completed later this year,” Alexander stated in an email.

Read more here.

Latest stage in Sappi Mill demolition delayed till Spring over contamination fears.

The show will not go on as scheduled this weekend at the old Sappi Paper plant.

Thousands of people were expected to watch Sunday morning as an explosives team brought down the 280-foot tall smokestack at the former paper mill. But, in a letter sent to the city on Thursday, the president of the demolition company says previously unknown contamination has been found and he is suspending demolition of the smokestack.

“Until we have fully investigated the regulatory requirements in the continued process of handling, abating, further testing and final disposition of such materials,” wrote Douglas Melching, president of Melching Demolition And Dismantling.

The letter from the demolition company doesn’t describe the previously unknown contaminants discovered three days before it was scheduled to topple the smokestack.

The company’s president says the material needs “special attention.”

Read more here, or view the video below:

Woman plans gay marriage with 107-year old warehouse facing demolition.

A Seattle woman is planning to wed a 107-year old building that is currently in the midst of demolition. Babylonia Aivaz’s has been planning to enter into what she described as “a gay marriage” with the building.

The building had been slated for demolition for some time, but Aivaz expected the wedding to precede the demise of her beloved one. But demolition crews began their work on Thursday.

When Aivaz learned demolition work was under way, she rushed over to the site and changed into her wedding dress on the street.

She was then seen climbing on the equipment and trying to get in the way of the demolition. But minutes later, she left, telling a KOMO News photographer that she was expected at work. So far, demolition crews have torn down the warehouse’s awning. A mix-use apartment building is planned for the site.

“Yes, I’m in love with a 107 year old building! Yes, ITS A GAY MARRIAGE! How is that possible? Well there must obviously be a deeper story,” she wrote.

To read more, click here .

Filmmaker alleged to have thrown glass block at demolition worker.

For demolition workers, falling debris is an ever-present danger, an occupational hazard. But generally, falling debris has not been hurled by a disgruntled resident.

But a worker with Imrie Demolition is today thankful for the invention of the hard hat after a Winnipeg man is alleged to have thrown a heavy glass block at his head in protest at the imminent demolition of his home.

Ed Ackerman, 54, was released from custody Wednesday after signing a $2,000 recognizance and agreeing to abide by several conditions as he awaits trial on assault and criminal mischief charges.

Tuesday morning, Ackerman’s refusal to come down off the roof of his house as a wrecking crew arrived to demolish the structure ultimately triggered a police standoff that lasted roughly five hours.

The City of Winnipeg says the home is unsafe and wants it levelled.

The demolition work quickly halted after Ackerman allegedly lobbed a block at a worker and hit him on his hard hat.

The standoff ended peacefully. A fire crew helped Ackerman down from the rooftop and he was taken into police custody.

Read more or view a video of the standoff here.

Water tower remains standing on two legs before finally succumbing.

The Copley Square Water Corp. tower came down Jan. 19 with no problems, according to Nick Filippi, project manager for B&B Wrecking and Excavating, of Cleveland, which oversaw the job.

Filippi said the company’s crew of four workers were on site at 8 a.m. and the tower was down within three hours. Some work at the site was completed in the days leading up to the tower’s removal, Filippi added.

Copley Township officials said the 165-foot tower was abandoned and emptied of water years ago when an apartment complex was built next to it and water service was supplied through a Joint Economic Development District agreement with the city of Akron.

The tower was to be pulled down last summer, but an agreement had to be reached between the owners of property on which the tower was to fall before the job could be completed.

Read more here, or view the video below:

US chalks up its fourth demolition fatality in 24 hours.

A worker has died following demolition work in a downtown Syracuse building.

Steven Pallotta, 25 was working on the ninth floor of the Snow Building, when police say a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed on top of him. It happened just before 1 p.m. yesterday.

Police say Pallotta was standing on a ladder taking down a piece of a concrete when the giant 15 x 15 foot section of ceiling collapsed.

Pallotta was pronounced dead at Upstate University Hospital. He was working for JS Development, which is doing demolition work on a ninth floor office.

This latest incident comes just 24 hours after three people were killed in two separate US demolition accidents.

Read more or view news video here.

In perfect kite-flying weather, Hughes and Salvidge implodes Outokumpu stack.

Earlier this week, we brought you the news that Hughes & Salvidge had imploded 45 metre high reinforced concrete chimney, at their Outokumpu project in Sheffield by means of explosive demolition.

And now we are able to bring you an exclusive (if rather windy) video of that blast.

Site photo captures eerie image at window.

Demolition workers were given a fright after photographing a ghostly figure peering through the window of a derelict Victorian guesthouse.

The image is said to bear an eerie resemblance of Frances Grimshaw, who worked at the guesthouse and stood for hours at the same window taking bookings.

David Grimshaw, a former resident at the property, said he was convinced the figure is the ghost of his mother, who died nearly a year ago aged 87.

He believes her spirit may have appeared to protest at the demolition of Meadowbank House, which she adored.

Click here to view the photo.

Three deaths in a single day prove demolition still has much to learn.

As a career journalist, I could have chosen just about any industry to focus upon. In a near 30-year career, I have written about everything from restaurants to office equipment. But when I first set foot on a demolition site some quarter century ago, it felt like I’d come home.

From the very outset, I loved the camaraderie and the on-site banter; I loved the cursing and swearing that seemed to pepper every on-site conversation; I loved the rough, toughness of the men (and, increasingly, women) that made the industry so endlessly fascinating.

But the constant fly in an otherwise beguiling ointment has always been the industry’s health and safety track record. And there are times that it is hard to love a sector that maims and kills those that work within around it with such frequency and alacrity.

Tuesday of this week was just one such time. In two separate incidents, the global demolition industry unnecessarily and avoidably lost three of its number.

Yes, those accidents were both in the US. But show me a national demolition industry that claims a 100% safety record, and I will show you a liar.

We (and I would include myself in this) are very quick to point accusing fingers at the Chinese for their questionable top down demolition methods; we can rest easy knowing that it wasn’t in our backyard that 29 local people were killed by a debris truck; we can snigger at the TV exploits of a gung-ho blaster and his cowboy shtick; and we can smugly cook up a whole host of reasons why an accident on New Zealand’s largest demolition project was inevitable.

But while I do believe that the UK demolition industry’s safety initiatives are currently setting the global standard, I am mindful that this sector is not without sin, as recent high-profile incidents have highlighted all too clearly.

Furthermore, accidents are not just an internationally universal issue. They are also a universal pay-grade issue in which every part of the demolition employment chain is equally culpable:

• The company directors that choose profit over safety by cutting back on training expenditure.
• The site managers that choose speed and expediency over safety by cutting corners.
• The site operatives that choose complacency over safety by thinking good enough is good enough.

Before I sign off, let’s get a little interactive. Whether you’re on site, in the office or at home while you’re reading this, take a look around and focus on the first person you see whether they’re a colleague, friend or family member. Now try to imagine how you’d feel if they weren’t there tomorrow.

There are three families, three sets of friends, three sets of colleagues experiencing that for real right now.

And that is why, for all its abiding appeal, I love the demolition industry just a little bit less this morning.

Let’s be careful out there.

Attachments specialist sets sights on demolition sector with new microsite.

From compressors to drill rigs and pumps to pulverisers. The Atlas Copco product range is as varied and diverse as it is popular.

But for the demolition man looking for a new attachment, Atlas Copco’s strength could also be perceived as a weakness with buyers having to trawl through multiple layers of online search to find the product and specification they required.

Until now.

To underline its increasing focus on the demolition business, Atlas Copco has lifted the lid on its new Silent Demolition “micro-site” that is designed to provide demolition professionals with fast and easy-to-navigate access to the information they require.

Having been given exclusive access to the site last night, we have taken it for a spin and it really is exceptionally well thought out. In particular, the Silent Demolition Tools Selector -that allows users to select the tools that match their specific application and carrier requirements – is a really neat addition.

Go and take a look by clicking here.