Two in two weeks as yet another machine falls into basement.
Joking aside, we would like to propose that companies name and shame the operators responsible for this subterranean parking craze. No amount of training and guidance seems to be getting the message across, so maybe the threat of global humiliation might.
Read more here.
Residents and conservationists react to sanatorium demolition plans.
Plans to demolish a Victorian hospital building, owned by Eton College in Berkshire, have been criticised by campaigners.
An application has been lodged to replace the unlisted former Eton Sanatorium with town houses.
The building, which dates from 1843, was used as a hospital block for pupils and later as staff accommodation.
Eton College said the nine flats inside were surplus to requirements and in a poor state of repair.
The application is being discussed by The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s development panel later. The authority’s planners have recommended permission be refused.
Berkshire Archaeology, the Environment Agency and Eton Parish Council are among those who have lodged objections.
Read more here.
City fells homes that had been purchased at auction.
A dozen homes in Detroit have been mistakenly demolished, a city official says.
One of the residences had been purchased by a pair of artists who bought it for $500 at a tax auction in October.
Kristine Diven and Micho McAdow planned to fix up the empty two-story home and move in by the spring. But when they drove by one evening in December, their new house was gone.
“Instead of taking measurements for the boards we needed, we found our house in a pile,” Diven told The Detroit News for a story published Saturday.
The structure had been demolished by the state’s Land Bank Fast Track Authority as part of a program to eliminate blight near schools. At least 11 other properties, all bought by an area investor, also were razed in error, said Karla Henderson, director of Detroit’s planning and facilities department.
Read more here.
Road closures scheduled for 14 January ahead of demolition and construction.
The Nine Span Bridge on Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond will be closed starting 14 January for demolition and the building of a new bridge
Dunnet Bay Construction, of Glendale Heights, Ill., has been awarded the $17.99 million contract for demolishing the existing bridge and building a new one, according to INDOT.
Indiana Department of Transportation projects the new bridge will be open by the end of 2013.
The Nine-Span Bridge is currently rated as being in “poor” condition and underwent major repairs eight years ago. Some heavy trucks are banned from the bridge. It carries Indianapolis Boulevard vehicle traffic over the CSX tracks and Indiana Harbor Belt’s Gibson Yard.
Read more here.
Take one sledgehammer, stir in a disregard for human life and you have a recipe for disaster.
Demolition is different around the world, and each country or region has its own preferred methods and its own regulations governing health and safety.
But there is one universal rule of thumb that applies equally across the globe – If your chosen method requires you to run for your life, you chose the wrong method:
Question mark over future of stadium that inspired a world beater.
It is just over four months since Jessica Ennis, owner of the world’s finest female abs, romped to victory in the 800 metres to claim a gold medal in the London 2012 heptathlon and crown what has since been dubbed Super Saturday.
And yet, despite pre-Games promises of legacy facilities, there is now a question mark over the very facility that inspired Ennis (among others) to take up athletics and which still performs a key role in her training regime.
According to a report by the BBC, demolition of the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield is just one of the options under consideration by the cash-strapped local authority. Reports suggest that the closure and demolition of the arena – opened in 1991 – could save the council half a million pounds per year.
Mike Corden, chairman of City of Sheffield Athletics Club, whose members train at Don Valley Stadium, said its closure would be an “obvious blow” to the city’s athletes. Jessica Ennis’s coach, Toni Minichiello, said the stadium was crucial to her for outdoor training but she would remain in Sheffield if it closed.
Read more here.
City may seek $1,000 fee to control increased number of demolition firms.
Demolition contractors may have to pay a registration fee to work in Niagara Falls.
The city council will vote this week on a resolution put forth by Chairman Sam Fruscione that would require all demolition contractors working in Niagara Falls to register with the city.
“The number of demolition companies in the city has increased in recent years and the city has to take this registration step in order to determine the professional qualifications and reasonably regulate the demolition business within our city,” Fruscione said in a prepared statement. “The demand for demolitions is going to increase into the foreseeable future and we have to take the necessary steps now to regulate the companies, ensure that the work is done properly and guard public safety as the work is carried out.”
Demolition contractors would pay an annual fee of $1,000 and show proof of insurance to register with the city.
Read more here.
Yet another excavator/death wish combination.
The inventiveness of excavator operators and their ability to continually create new ways to hurt themselves or their friends has long been a source of amazement and awe here at Demolition News Towers.
If they’re not flinging their machines into basements, they are twirling their friends around with gay abandon, usually with the friend winding up in a crumpled heap with a dislocated everything for their troubles.
And that trend continues with the excavator operator’s take on sledding.
Boardwalk damaged by Superstorm Sandy set to fall.
The remnants of the Sandy-ravaged Long Beach boardwalk will be demolished, starting Saturday. It will be replaced by a new and stronger boardwalk.
The storm rendered the 2.2-mile boardwalk unsafe and unviable.
Officials of the Long Island city said residents can come by on Saturday to say goodbye to the “iconic landmark” before the demolition begins.
The demolition is expected to take about a month. The boardwalk was built in 1914.
Read more here.
JTB Services drops another portion of John O’Quinn Field at Corbin J. Robertson Stadium.
It was the original home of the Houston Oilers AFL team and, more recently, the Houston Dynamos Major League Soccer team. But the Robertson Stadium is being replaced and its demise is being overseen, appropriately, by Houston-based JTB Services.
In this great video – sent courtesy of JTB Services’ Larry Grisham – another portion of the 70-year old stadium comes down in spectacular style.
