Fresh plans to partially demolish Hampton Court station rejected by local authority.

Elmbridge Borough Council’s north area planning sub-committee has rejected fresh plans to knock down parts of Hampton Court train station.

Gladedale Estates Ltd and Network Rail are seeking to redevelop the station and the former Jolly Boatman site next to it.

Under their proposals, a hotel, a care home and apartments will be built, while the station will be refurbished and a new transport interchange will be created.

As part of these plans, Gladedale and Network Rail have been looking to part demolish the existing gable entrance to the station building, as well as the single-storey addition to the station building comprising the platform level staff room and male toilets.

In addition, the companies have also been looking to demolish two existing platform canopies, a car sales building and low level boundary walls.

Elmbridge Borough Council originally gave the firms conservation area consent to undertake the demolition work at the station in 2009.

However, this consent expired in June last year and the companies had to submit a fresh conservation area application, which they did in December.

The borough council received more than 800 letters of objection regarding the new proposals.

During a meeting held at the Civic Centre in Esher last week, the authority’s north area planning sub-committee decided to reject the application.

Read more here.

Year-long time-lapse captures demolition and reconstruction of Australian cricket ground.

If you’re American, you are excused – There’s nothing for you to see here. If, however, you come from a country where the sound of leather on willow brings back idyllic memories of sunny afternoons, the do we have a treat for you.

In the cricket world, the Adelaide Oval is just about as close to hallowed turf as it is possible to find. And so the demolition and reconstruction of this world-famous sporting venue is a pretty big deal to anyone for whom baseball, basketball and “professional wrestling” are not considered a national sport.

And this video – shot over a 11-month period commencing in March 2012, captures both the demolition and the reconstruction of what will soon be restored to its former glory as a Mecca to cricket fans the world over:

Adelaide Oval Redevelopment March 2012 to Feb 2013 from Orange Lane Studios on Vimeo.

Footage captures final moments of Port Pirie radio tower.

With the rain trying desperately to turn into snow (again) outside the windows of Demolition News Towers, we welcome any excuse to look at blue skies. And we welcome them even more when the blue sky is a backdrop to a nice big radio antenna in its death throes.

Worker dead as roof collapses prematurely.

A demolition worker was killed yesterday after a roof prematurely collapsed at what was once a Kmart in Brigham City, Utah.

At about 3 p.m., a team of four demolition workers were on the roof preparing for a planned collapse.

The roof collapsed sooner than they expected, according to Box Elder News Journal Associate Editor Mike Nelson. The man killed in the incident had left the area for an unknown reason. Officials said he was found under the rubble.

“Three were on top of the roof, and one had left the roof for an unknown reason,” said Brigham City Fire Captain Mike Young. “When the roof came down, it was a bit premature that what the construction workers had initially planned.”

Read more here, or view the local news video below:

Property developer announces plans to demolish former home of disgraced TV personality, Jimmy Savile.

It is not unusual for the former homes of murderers, rapists and child sex offenders to be demolished in the wake of their conviction. What is slightly more unusual, however, is a plan to demolish a fifth-storey penthouse for precisely the same reasons but without impacting upon those living below.

Those ambitious plans have been mooted by Leeds-based CXI 92 Ltd, new owner of the former home of disgraced TV star and serial sex attacker Jimmy Savile.

A spokesman for CXI 92 said: “I can tell you that we are going to demolish the property and completely rebuild it before selling it or possibly using it as a rental property.

“We are going to demolish it in the next six months to two years.”

The spokesman said the work would not affect any of the other apartments in the Lakeview Court block.

Read more here.

Caterpillar enters the smart phone fray with super-tough B15.

My unrequited love for my iPhone is pretty common knowledge. I treasure it like a child; I have been known to buy it gifts; and, frankly, I would be utterly lost without it. But I would be the first to admit that with its sleek lines, elegant trim and husky Siri voice commands, it is a bit “girly”.

So who better to butch up the smart phone arena than construction and demolition equipment giant Caterpillar? The company’s new B15 smart phone utilises the Google “Jelly Bean” operating software, whatever the hell that is. But what is more important to demolition types are its other specs.

It’s waterproof up to one metre in depth for 30 minutes, is dust-proof, can operate in temperatures from -20 to 55 degrees Celsius, and can withstand up to 6-foot drops (1.8 meters). This phone is so macho that it probably buys the first round at the bar, belches the national anthem of your choosing, and goes home with your wife.

It would be easy to dismiss the Caterpillar smart phone as little more than a marketing gimmick. But let me tell you about Caterpillar marketing gimmicks.

I once had to queue at a local Cat dealer’s parts counter for nearly two hours while droves of trendsetting teens stocked up on the then-hip-and-happening Caterpillar boots.
So don’t be too surprised to see the manly “Catphone” embraced by the fashionista.

Read more here.

Work underway as conservationist bid to save cinema fails.

Demolition crews have moved in to pull down the historic Odeon cinema after a bid to save the listed building failed.

Workers from Dem-Masters are now on site emptying out the B-listed venue that is to be converted into a 10-storey office and retail block.

Campaigners launched a bid to rescue the space, which drew interest from music show producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

Steven Raeside, of the Scottish Preservation Society, had battled to try and save the building, which he believes to be the last large cinema and music hall of its type in the UK.

Mr Raeside said: “It is a real shame to see this building go, not only because of its architectural significance but because so little was done to try to save it.

“Losing this building should be the final stopper. It should be the point where Glasgow begins to realise what it has lost and not risk any more of our buildings.”

The former Odeon cinema and Paramount music venue, which originally opened in 1934, played host to some of the biggest stars of the day from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard.

Read more here.

BGE gas holder implosion goes to plan under watchful eye of CDI.

As the clock ticked down Sunday, the morning clouds disappeared, as if they were in on the months-long planning that went into the destruction of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s final natural-gas holding silo.

Then, as if someone were turning on Christmas lights, the rings of the cylinder blinked with 420 explosive charges.

It took a moment for the noise — like thunder after lightning pierces the sky – for the rat-ta-tat-tat to reach the observers on the roof of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute across the Jones Falls Expressway.And in less than the 7 seconds predicted, the 258-foot-tall hollow steel structure was reduced to a pile of rubble, about 25 feet high.

Precisely at 7:30 a.m., there were puffs of smoke and dust as the copper pins in the explosive charges cut the steel more cleanly — and incredibly faster — than a blowtorch.

“Everything went very well,” said James Santoro of Controlled Demolition Inc. “It happened just the way we planned it.”

Read more here, or view the videos below:

Crews demolish Ohio’s Mingo Junction bridge.

The Ohio Valley has one less bridge. Mingo Junction Steelworks, the new owner of the mill in the village, brought down the Ore Bridge and Trolley.

The demolition happened around 6 p.m. Crews used metal thermite charges that burned through the steel.

The demolition company, Frontier Industrial Corp. and the company AED were busy Thursday getting things ready on the bridge. While they were working there, local emergency crews were getting things ready on the ground, lining and clearing the streets.

Read more here, or view the video below:

Buffalo conservationists take out restraining order and seek permanent injunction.

The Campaign for Buffalo – History, Architecture & Culture, Inc. has filed an Article 78 Proceeding in New York State Supreme Court, which placed a temporary restraining order on the demolition of the historic Bethlehem Steel Administration Building in Lackawanna.

The petition maintains that the City of Lackawanna issued a demolition permit to the owner, GATEWAY TRADE CENTER, INC., on December 17, 2012, without performing environmental review as required by the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. The suit contends that the demolition permit is therefore a nullity in that it was issued illegally.

The Campaign is seeking a permanent injunction on the demolition of the building until full compliance with SEQR is demonstrated. A hearing is scheduled before Hon. James H. Dillon for Wednesday, February 27th at 9:30 a.m

Read more here.