Late mob boss ordered hit on demolition man Edward Garofalo.

In a court case that could have been lifted from an episode of The Sopranos, a reputed Gambino crime-family associate has been charged with taking part in the last rubout believed ordered by the late mob boss John Gotti.

Ex-con Daniel Fama, 48, was allegedly part of the hit team that gunned down demolition contractor Edward Garofalo in August 1990 outside his home in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

Fama’s murder indictment says Garofalo, known as “Eddie the Chink,” was killed to keep him from cooperating with authorities.

The Manhattan federal court filing also says that the slaying was orchestrated by Gotti henchman Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano, who infamously turned rat and helped convict the “Dapper Don,” who later died in prison.

Read more here.

Explosives remove remaining bridge piers.

Contractors imploded two remaining piers of the old US 281 bridge at 2:03 pm Friday.

North-south traffic on the highway, heavy with weekend travellers, was blocked about eight minutes resulting in a heavy backup north in both directions and on RR 2147.

There were no immediate reports of damage to surrounding structures as occurred when the old bridge itself was imploded March 17, raining debris on nearby buildings, severing communications lines, and snarling traffic for more than two hours.

A few dozen onlookers gathered at Lakeside park and construction workers and some residents nearby watched the removal of the last vestiges of the old bridge.

When the blast was announced with a sharp bang, a geyser of water erupted from Lake Marble Falls and soared higher than the replacement span now carrying vehicles over the water. It appeared hat most of the old piers had been removed above the surface of the lake with explosive charges placed on what remained below.

Read more here, or view the video below:

Companies fall foul of asbestos regulations during demolition of steel plant.

A Jefferson County judge ordered that several companies pay an $850,000 fine because of violations that caused asbestos contamination during the demolition of the former Weirton Steel facility in Steubenville.

Arthur David Sugar, Sr.; David Sugar Excavating, LLC; Honey Creek Contracting, Inc.; Excavation Technologies Inc.; and ADS Leasing pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and four counts of violating the Clean Air Act rules related to the proper removal and handling of asbestos.

“Asbestos is widely known to be a dangerous, cancer-causing material which must be abated in any demolition,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. “The aggressive penalty issued against the defendants in this case shows that endangering Ohioans by failing to properly manage asbestos will not be tolerated.”

Read more here.

Irony as leaky county hall is demolished by a company called Walters!

Contractors Walters Demolition moved on to the site in January and began preliminary works on the building, prior to demolition. Now, works have started on the demolition of the debating chamber and associated structures, which will continue until the end of the month.

Between May and June, the civic offices will be knocked down.

County Hall, in Croesyceiliog – most recently shared by Monmouthshire and Torfaen councils – closed last year because the building has ‘concrete cancer’.

With rain penetrating the cladding and rusting steel supports, it would have cost £30million to repair. Further to this, a disused nuclear shelter built on the site created a void in the ground underneath.

Read more here.

MSU dorm to fall to implosion in late June.

After serving as a landmark for about 50 years on the campus of Minnesota State University, the end is near for Gage Complex.

The residence hall’s implosion is set for the morning hours of either Saturday, June 29, or Sunday, June 30, with weather conditions determining the safest time for the event. (If weather conditions prevent a June 29 or 30 implosion, the event will occur at a similar time on the following weekend.)

On the date of implosion, a 1,000-foot radius “safe zone” is required around the site for 12 hours prior to and eight hours after the implosion. All buildings and grounds within that 1,000-foot radius will be “off limits” during those hours.

Read more here.

Owner/Operator goes solo with new Northerntrack Selector Grapple.

It takes a brave man to start his own business. And it takes an even braver one to do so in the midst of the worst recession in living memory.

So hats off to owner/operator Austin Wilkinson who has just taken the plunge and gone solo armed with a Komatsu PC290 and a new NTSG20-HD selector grapple from Northerntrack decked out in a rather fetching purple livery.

Wilkinson says he put a lot of thought into his choice of attachment before opting for the versatile 2.5 tonne unit that, he says, offered the best combination of affordability and durability.

Austin Wilkinson (along with his new grapple) will be featured in the next edition of the Demolition magazine. But, in the meantime, check out this brand new video courtesy of Northerntrack and our video partners Django.

Deconstruct UK makes it three in a row with latest safety award.

For the third consecutive year, Deconstruct UK has had its approach to the prevention of accidents and ill health recognised in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2013.

The Gold Award will be officially presented at the 2013 RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards Ceremonies which will take place on May 14, 15 and 16, 2013 in the Kings Suite of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), a safety charity, launched its awards programme 57 years ago. The scheme looks not only at accident records, but also entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as strong leadership and workforce involvement.

The RoSPA Awards 2013 are sponsored by NEBOSH – the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health. This is the eighth year that NEBOSH has sponsored the Awards.

Group Chairman, Paul Ford said: “To win the Gold award for the third year in a row is a huge honour for the Deconstruct team, especially when it has been awarded in only our fourth year of trading. The achievement of this award clearly demonstrates our commitment to towards the continual development of our people, our processes and above all our ability to deliver projects safely”

Three 240 metre tall chimneys felled in simultaneous implosion.

Sadly, our Mandarin is just a little rusty so it’s difficult to tell exatly what is being said on this video.

But there is o question that these three smokestacks are pretty huge and the YouTube caption that suggests they were 240 metres tall is credible.

Regardless, for lovers of smokestack implosions, this last film from China is impressive:

Falling tower takes out entire neighbouring block.

Assuming that the contractor involved wasn’t utilising the “domino-effect” style of demolition, this is a demolition fail of near Biblical proportions.

We have been able to ascertain very few details aside from the fact that (a) it was uploaded to YouTube yesterday and (b) was reportedly shot in Saudi Arabia.

However, the pictures largely speak for themselves:

No-one hurt in light night collapse, but investigation underway.

The wise readers of DemolitionNews have come to our rescue yet again, informing us that the building collapse in Brussels – while significant – did not cause any injury as it actually happened at approximately 10 pm in the evening.

The site was unmanned and the majority of the debris was contained within the site’s confines.

Although a precise explanation of the cause of the collapse has not yet been established, it is thought that the collapse occurred ont he top two or three floors.

An investigation is underway.

Read more here.