Another video cameraman gets a little too close for comfort.

Having watched this video a few times, we have summised just how the risk assessment discussion went just prior to filing:
Video cameraman – So I’ll be safe here?
Excavator operator – Sure. Safe as crossing the road.
Video cameraman – Erm, crossing the road isn’t actually that safe. Are you sure?
Excavator operator – Dude, I am right beside you. Do you really think I would pull hundreds of tonnes of concrete towards myself?
Video cameraman – Well, when you put it like that…

DemolitionNews will not be bought or bribed!

It is Good Friday, a day when I should be spending time with my family and recovering from a week in which the latest edition of our new magazine hit the newsstands.

Instead, I am in front of a computer, shocked and appalled at having received an unsolicited bribe from a company that shall remain nameless (Northerntrack). The fact that anyone thinks my loyalties can bought for the price of a (very smart) Easter egg just shows how little they know me or understand my editorial integrity.

Andy and Sue Hair – the Brangelina of the demolition industry – sent me this so called “gift” with a note that says “Onwards and Upwards”. Of course, this could apply to the new magazine in which their company is featured. But post-Leveson, us hacks have to be on our guard.

Similarly, the sturdy outer shell of the Hotel Chocolat egg could be a confectionery representation of Northerntrack attachments’ renowned durability; the smoothness of its chocolate symbolic of the slick action of the company’s pulverisers, shears and grapples.

But I digress. The very fact that Andy Hair – Leeds’ answer to George Clooney – thinks that my affections can be bought with mere (although unquestionably delicious) chocolate is a personal insult. And Sue – women want to be her, men want to be with her – Hair is equally culpable in this thinly-veiled (and sweet smelling) attempt at bribery and corruption. And if they think this is going to get their excellent company and equally excellent attachments additional coverage in these pages, well they are sadly mistaken.

As soon as I finish this column, I shall be taking this unwanted (and now largely eaten) “gift” to a local old folks’ home to see what they make of its heavenly aroma and velvety texture. And I do not intend to mention Northerntrack or its range of high quality bespoke attachments in any way, shape or form.

That will teach them.

Happy Easter!!

Investigation spotlight falls upon T. Fiore Demolition.

A Newark demolition company that owes New Jersey and the federal government more than $100,000 — including unpaid fines stemming from the 2011 death of a teenage worker — was among the many subcontractors hired with taxpayer dollars to haul debris after superstorm Sandy.

The federal government is seeking $30,000 from T. Fiore Demolition, saying the company could have prevented the 2011 death of a 19-year-old worker at its Wilson Avenue facility if it had followed federal guidelines. T. Fiore was cited with 11 safety violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, public records show.

This year, the state Department of Environmental Protection stopped issuing the company the decals that allow it to haul debris in New Jersey, according to state records, citing more than $86,000 in unpaid fees that piled up in the past year.

And court documents show the state and owner Theodore Fiore also have been tied up in litigation for several years stemming from a separate dispute over the construction material recycling business the company has been operating for the past decade at the Wilson Avenue site, which is near the New Jersey Turnpike.

Read more here.

Sheffield Jessop Hospital’s Edwardian wing demolition approved

The BBC is reporting that the Edwardian wing of a former hospital in Sheffield is to be knocked down to make way for a new £81m university engineering department.

Campaigners had been trying to save the Grade II-listed extension to the former Jessop Hospital.

They said it was an “absolute disgrace” the communities secretary had decided not to call in the planning application for further review.

The University of Sheffield said it now hoped to open the building by 2016.

The Victorian Society and the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society (HHBS) were among groups arguing that the wing should be saved.

Read more here.

Allegations of fraud by contractors working on Christchurch earthquake rebuild

New Zealand authorities are investigating two “very big” cases of alleged fraud by contractors working on the Christchurch rebuild.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says 20 cases have been handed over to police and so far four have been successfully prosecuted.

“There are two very big cases being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office at the present time and there is a file of numerous other cases where there are discrepancies in invoicing,” he told Parliament. Brownlee said the estimate came from an analysis of projects of the same size that had been undertaken elsewhere in the world.

Brownlee was answering questions from NZ First leader Winston Peters. Peters tabled a complaint to the police regarding the alleged falsification of time sheets by Southern Demolition and Salvage Ltd.

Read more here.

This video should be a part of EVERY Toolbox Talk.

One of the key challenges facing senior site personnel and demolition trainers is making their safety message sufficiently entertaining and memorable.

So we were very impressed when the following video landed on our desk. Not only is it really well done, I just found myself singing along (never mind what Eminem says, white men can’t rap!).

A new Hitachi EX1200 conversion is tackling a major demolition project in the Port of Rotterdam.

It seems that the Benelux countries’ love of massive demolition machines shows no signs of abating. In the same week that we exclusively revealed that the former Heavy Decom International goliath known as The Beast was bound for Belgian shores, we can bring you this exclusive video of a similarly monstrous Hitachi EX1200 conversion currently at work in the Port of Rotterdam.

Designed, developed and owned by Van Leeuwen Katwijck Groupe (VLK) in the Netherlands, the 200 tonne machine features an 18 tonne Mantovanibenne CR130 attachment and is known, ominously, as The Red Devil.

This short video was shot exclusively by our video partners Django which is currently producing a feature-length edition of the movie that will be available for sale later this week.

Until then, check out this monster:

The second edition of our Demolition magazine is choc-full of new and exclusive content.

How time flies. It seems like just a few days since we were celebrating (literally) the launch of our first-ever Demolition magazine. And yet here we are, two months later and we have another bigger, better and bolder issue to share with you.

The new edition contains a huge number of articles that are exclusive to Demolition magazine including:

• A look behind the scenes at the demolition of the former Trench UK factory in Hebburn by Masterton (Page 24)
• The first contract for a 200+ tonne Dutch demolition giant known as The Red Devil (Page 28)
• Erith dropping welcome bombs on Slough (Page 36)
• C&D Consultancy launches hydraulic breaker training course ((Page 40)
• A never-seen-before new hydraulic breaker prototype (Page 46)
• A visit to the Netherlands parts hub that keeps Furukawa hydraulic hammers supplied with parts (Page 50)
• Why the well-heeled demolition excavator should have a bespoke attachment (page 56)

In addition, we provide a detailed look at the challenges facing AR Demolition during the removal of a space deck roof at London’s King’s Cross station (Page 18), and we get to grips with the VW Amarok pick-up (Page 12).

And as if that wasn’t enough, we are offering for sale a feature-length video on The Red Devil excavator in action (Page 66).

We sincerely hope that you enjoy the latest edition and look forward to receiving your comments either in the comments area below, or via email: manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk

Investigation underway after Swiss demolition worker is crushed.

A 25-year-old Swiss man working on the demolition of a farm shed wall in a rural community in the canton of Vaud died on Monday when the wall collapsed on him.

The incident occurred at around 2.35pm in Mathod, a village of 556 people in the Jura-Nord Vaudois region, west of Yverdon-Les-Bains.

Vaud cantonal police said an investigation has been launched into why the wall fell down on the man.

Despite the rapid intervention of ambulance attendants and a doctor from the local hospital, the worker, a resident of Mathod, died on the spot, police said.

The local prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

Read more here.

GoPro camera gets up close to the action.

Watching this video shot from a boom-mounted GoPro video camera, I was suddenly struck by the notion that this might just be a snapshot of the future.

Just imagine a world in which every demolition excavator came ready-fitted with a high-def’ video camera linked to a hard drive that could monitor, broadcast and record just what a machine (and its operator) was doing at any given time. A world in which arguments over equipment abuse and warranty violations were a thing of the past; when accident investigations required little more than pressing the play button.

George Orwell would be so proud.