Site operative attempts to “bump start” Stihl saw.

The construction and allied industries are rife with tales of pranks and indoctrinations upon unsuspecting newcomers. Some of our personal favourites are sending young lads to the loval builder’s merchant for a “longweight” (think about it), the engineers sent to collect the box of steam, and the legend of the predatory homosexual fitter who would pounce upon any unsuspecting individual unlucky enough to find himself in the inspection pit.

But, in the video age, such pranks have taken upon a life of their own. So pity the poor guy in this clip and his brave (but vain) attempt to bump start a Stihl saw:

Delair CFD dust suppression technique proves its worth.

On Friday 12 April, we were lucky enough to be on site in Porto in Portugal as a guest of Delair CFD’s Patrick Villard to see the controlled implosion of a 15-storey tower block close to the River Douro and, in particular, the use of the Delair CFD pioneered vertical dust suppression system developed in France.

That system utilises a series of children’s paddling pools filled with water and explosives to fire water up the outside of the structure to coincide with the blast, capturing the dust. At the same time, a series of exploding water bags hidden within the building consume the dust created internally.

The day before the blast, the heavens over Porto had truly opened, leaving the site soggy and external dust trapped below a layer of moisture. However, all the rain in the world could not contain the dust within building itself. So it is a testament to the Delair CFD system that not only were the dust emissions minimal, but an adjacent road running alongside the building was reopened within seconds of the blast, with no additional sweeping or cleaning required.

The exclusive full story of the blast will appear in the next edition of Demolition magazine, out on 31 May 2013. Until then, check out our exclusive video below:

Down at last – The Asarco stacks are no more.

It took about 35 seconds for two of El Paso’s more visible and sometimes controversial pieces of history to fall to the ground and disintegrate just after the sun rose on a clear, almost windless Saturday morning.

One cannon-like, reverberating boom was followed several seconds later by another reverberating boom. The Asarco stacks slowly fell like giant trees onto cushioned dirt beds on the former 126-year-old Asarco copper smelter site in West-Central El Paso. Three unexpected paragliders hovered in the sky above Juárez to get a bird’s-eye of the planned destruction.

At 6:55 am local time, the smokestacks were gone.

“It’s the end of an era. It’s changed the skyline,” said Ted Houghton, an El Paso businessman and chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, who watched the demolition from a special viewing area near Executive Center Boulevard and Interstate 10.

Huge, gray clouds of what Asarco site Trustee Roberto Puga said was concrete dust erupted as the smokestacks fell with two thunderous thuds. The mass of dust clouds spread from the Asarco site to nearby neighborhoods in Juárez, where residents coughed and worried about the dust’s effects.

Read more here, or view the videos below:

Line up of Armac excavators wins major photography award.

An image entitled Demolition of the original A5120 bridge over the M1 Motorway at Junction 12 has won the public vote for the grand prize winner in the COINS Building sights photo competition. The winning photographers, Darren Ruane and Terry Higginson of Costain Carillion Joint Venture, received nearly 40% of the total on-line votes.

Darren Ruane said, “When we took this demolition photo, we knew it had captured something special and so we started to look around for a photo competition to enter. COINS was running a construction specific competition so it was the natural choice for us.”

The two amateur photographers were able to capture a dramatic moment as ten large excavators fitted with breakers started to tear down the old A5120 road bridge over the M1 at Junction 12. The photo was shot at 11 pm and lit by task lighting and digger headlights using a Nikon D7000 SLR camera.

El Paso City Hall blast goes according to plan.

In an instant, 33 years of history came tumbling down as the former El Paso City Hall building was demolished Sunday morning.

The building fell and smoke covered downtown in a matter of seconds, and City Engineer Alan Shubert said the demolition was perfect.

“It was a textbook demolition,” Shubert said. “It went precisely as planned. It really came off without a hitch.”

From every angle, the implosion of City Hall was seemingly flawless. The 10-story building folded down upon itself just as planned.

License suspended after wheel loss incident in which all 10 wheel nuts were missing.

A Scottish demolition company has been suspended from operating vehicles after a Deputy Traffic Commissioner ruled its conduct had been “seriously remiss”.

The order will only be lifted when the directors of Chamic Demolition Services Ltd appoint a new transport manager. It means that the business is prevented from using any HGV vehicle under its licence.

The decision follows a public inquiry held in Edinburgh last month into a wheel loss incident involving the company’s HGV.

On 1 August 2012, the vehicle’s nearside wheels became detached on the A904. When the Police arrived at the scene, the vehicle was perched on the flyover above the A90.

During investigations into the incident, a VOSA examiner reported concerns over the company’s procedures for keeping its vehicles roadworthy. The examiner also questioned whether the driver of the vehicle carried out a visual check of the vehicle before using it on the day, to identify any defects, such as loose wheel nuts.

The examiner found that all 10 of the wheel nuts were missing after the incident.

The Deputy Commissioner also heard the company was unable to produce evidence to prove the vehicle had been given routine safety inspections, as required, and had no formal driver defect reporting system in place, where employees are required to visually inspect vehicles for defects. Other shortcomings were discussed during the hearing.

Company director Michael Hunter told the Commissioner that he could not believe the vehicle had missed any inspections and explained improvements that had been made or were due to be introduced by the business, including on the issue of wheel security. The business also admitted the incident had been a “massive wake up call”.

In evidence during a conduct hearing, the driver, Alan Robertson, said he had carried out a first use check on the vehicle, including the tyres and wheel nuts.

Mr Astle also heard from the company’s transport manager.

Issuing his findings in writing, the Deputy Commissioner said there was no evidence that any single person had clear, continuous or effective managerial responsibility for the vehicle or maintenance systems. He said Mr Hunter showed a “willingness to comply with the requirements of the operator licensing regime” but noted this had not been matched by a satisfactory regime or personnel.

That included the company’s transport manager, John Kennie.

The Deputy Commissioner said Mr Kennie “failed to ensure the necessary systems for maintenance of vehicles” had been place and also “failed even to be aware of the extent to which there was such failure”.

In respect of the driver, Mr Astle said he considered it more likely than not that the wheel nuts were loose at the beginning of the journey.

“If the check had been properly carried out they would have been discovered and the dangerous wheel loss prevented.

Mr Robertson’s licence to drive HGVs was suspended for a period of 60 days from 29 March 2013.

J. Bryan (Victoria) puts Italmek shears through their paces.

With the equipment world now focused upon next week’s Bauma exhibition and the explosives sector turning to the US and Portugal for this weekend’s triple-blast spectacular, it’s been one of those rare days on the demolition news stream when it appeared that there was nothing happening.

And then, out of the blue, comes the following video from our buddies at European Attachments Group detailing the use of its Italmek steel shears by leading North West of England contractor J. Bryan (Victoria) Ltd.

Of course, we are slightly biased as it was shot by our video partners Django Ltd; but we challenge you to find a better shear video.

We finally get our hands on the new Cat B15 Android smart phone.

A few weeks back, we reported that construction equipment giant Caterpillar had dipped its steel-capped toes into the already congested smart phone waters with the launch on the B15; a suitably rugged smart phone running Google’s Android operating system.

Ever since, we have been begging to get our hands on the first mobile phone that can truly be said to be demolition-friendly and demolition-resistant at the same time.

Earlier today, the postman arrived at Demolition News Towers bearing a gift; an unopened Cat B15 of our very own (if only temporarily).

To mark the arrival of the phone – and, as far as I know, we’re the first UK industry publication to get our hands on ne – we broke out the trusty Flip camera to film the grand unboxing.

There will be a full review of the new phone in Issue 3 of the new Demolition magazine (due out on 31 May 2013). But, in the meantime, hit the play button below to see what the Cat-branded box had in store.

A simple equipment exhibition could give the industry a much-needed shot in the arm.

I have been around the industry for a long time now; too long if some people are to be believed. And if there’s one thing I have learned over the quarter century or more that I have been writing about construction equipment it is that the industry stands or falls on market sentiment.

Politicians like to talk about a “feel-good factor”; one of those strange nebulous intangibles about which you are blissfully unaware until it’s taken away.

Equipment exhibitions have the ability to both engender and destroy that feel-good factor, a fact that owes much to their position in the grand industry food chain of which we are all a part. If construction and demolition companies are feeling upbeat about prospects and future workload, they are likely to invest in new equipment. Buoyed by that investment, equipment manufacturers will have more to spend on research and development and, of course, marketing. And those punters that take themselves off to an exhibition showground will see that evidenced in busy stands filled with exciting new kit. That, in turn, can make us all feel considerably better about the industry from which we earn our living.

But this is a double-edged sword that is equally sharp on both sides. A poorly-attended show will send manufacturers scuttling back to their respective factories, tails tucked between their legs, to pull the plug on costly research and development. Those delegates that do attend will leave the show feeling depressed about market conditions and will react accordingly. And we could all so easily talk ourselves into an even deeper recession.

Like many of those old enough to recall its rough and ready heyday, I still mourn the passing of SED in its Hatfield and Whipsnade days. But those times are passed, and it is time to find a suitable successor.

A successor that will give us an opportunity to see mobile plant as it was supposed to be seen – Mobile! A successor that will give us an excuse to meet old friends and to make some new ones. But, above all, a successor that sends us away with the feeling that maybe – just maybe – the worst is, in fact, over.

I hope that Plantworx IS that successor.

Blast fails to fell stack; excavator eventually gets the job done.

It was a perfect Washington day for an implosion. Blue skies provided an ideal backdrop for the videos and photos being shot by onlookers; a gentle breeze was set to carry the dust away; and the location of the stack – hundred of metres from anyone and anything – made for a safe environment.

Just one small probem – The stack failed to play ball. When explosives engineers hit the plunger, the PenPly stack just sat there as if untouched, mocking their efforts and cocking a snook at gravity. According to local news reports, the blasted stack was held aloft by a web of reinforcing bar. What is more of a mystery is why the presence of rebar came as a surprise to anyone.

Eventually, it was left to an excavator to finish what the explosives had started.