Bridge sale and demolition dispute set for 22 February hearing

A hearing pertaining to summary judgment over the Bellaire Bridge dispute will take place today in Kootenai County, Idaho, according to Lee Chaklos of Delta Demolition and KDC Investments. KDC and AED both claim ownership of the Bellaire Bridge. A full trial in the dispute has been set for 22 February.

KDC previously sought an injunction from the court that would have permitted the firm to begin work to take down the span while court action continued. That injunction was denied by a Dec. 15 court ruling that there are too many “unresolved issues” in the case.

The court order notes that the federal district court in Ohio on Dec. 23, 2009 ordered the bridge to be demolished by no later than Dec. 21, 2011. At the time of that order, the bridge was owned by Bellaire businessman Roger Barack. Barack sold the bridge to AED in May 2010 for $1.

Two separate agreements next were discussed by AED and KDC in the following days.

The first was a “purchase agreement,” in which KDC agreed to purchase the bridge from AED for $25,000. The agreement was signed May 20, 2010, and KDC assumed responsibility for “proper demolition and removal (of the bridge) on or before June 1, 2011.”

The second was a “demolition agreement” executed on June 1, 2010, in which KDC agreed to hire AED to blast the bridge once preliminary demolition was complete. This demolition agreement lacked a signature on its first page from KDC, according to the order.

KDC since has opted to not use AED for the Bellaire Bridge project, prompting AED to seek court action. KDC ignores a bigger legal question, according to the order.

“If AED is administratively dissolved prior to entering into the purchase agreement – and a dissolved corporation cannot transact business other than to wind up its affairs – then how could AED have entered in to the sale agreement with KDC?” the court order asked.

Calls to AED at the phone number listed on its website receive a recorded message saying the number “has been disabled.”

Chaklos pointed out other remarks in the order noting that AED did not return to KDC the $25,000 the firm paid to AED for the bridge, and unless that happened KDC owns the bridge.

AED owner Eric Kelley and his attorney “can’t get the bridge back,” Chaklos said. “We tendered the money. It is ours. He did not offer to buy it back.”

Read the full story here.

Demolition of former barracks stirs memories of Northern Ireland’s troubled past.

There were times, in the not too distant past, when residents of Northern Ireland must have wondered if their segregated homeland would ever see peace. And there were few more potent symbols of that country’s troubles than the Short Strand barracks used by both the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army during its prolonged occupation.

But like Northern Ireland’s troubles, the barracks’ divisive power is now a thing of the past and it is being demolished to make way for new and much-needed social housing.

And if that wasn’t sufficient proof that Northern Ireland is a very different country today, the fact that the following video is produced by Sinn Fein television – historically the most vocal opponents to the barracks – surely is.

After the implosion comes the clean-up operation.

After the 5 December 2010 implosion of the football stadium’s west grandstand, crews began clearing away the rubble to begin the $105 million renovation of TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Ross Bailey, associate athletics director for operations, said the clean-up of more than 500 truckloads of debris should be completed in one more week. “We got our own little force of Tonka toys out there, all with a different function,” Bailey said.

Bailey said more than 90 percent of the debris from the implosion would be recycled into other projects worked on by the construction company.

Athletics director Chris Del Conte said HKS Sports & Entertainment, the construction company working on the stadium renovation, was also responsible for the construction of Cowboys Stadium and the American Airlines Center.

Read more here.

Crews called in after partial collapse of Atlantic City theatre.

At roughly the same time that Sean McNulty was dangling by a thread following the collapse of the roof at the Landmark Theatre, demolition crews were making safe another partially collapsed US theatre, theis time in Atlantic City.

Demolition started at the Levoy Theatre on Monday, a week after part of building suddenly collapsed.
Crews from Garton’s Rigging began cutting and removing steel from the site on the 100 block of North High Street, while bystanders watched the demolition work from a safe distance across the street.

About one-third of the 102-year-old theater collapsed last week with little warning, damaging an adjacent building that housed a tea room that later was condemned. A city firefighter was injured in the collapse.

Read more here.

Worker left dangling following theatre roof collapse returns to work.

A demolition worker was back on the job on Tuesday – the day after he hung suspended following a partial collapse of the Landmark Theatre’s roof.

On Monday, Syracuse Fire Department personnel used cherry pickers to get to the roof where they found 38-year-old Sean McNulty.

When part of the roof gave way, he fell through. His harness held firm, however, and two of his Sabre Demolition co-workers placed additional safety straps on him while they waited for help.

Read more here.

Man rescued after falling during Landmark Theatre roof demolition

One person was rescued after falling while working on a demolition of Syracuse’s Landmark Theatre’s roof Monday afternoon. A safety harness saved him from falling six stories, but left him dangling.

The rescued man was working on a scheduled and controlled demolition of the Landmark’s roof before a concrete block shifted, causing his fall from the beam he was standing on. His safety harness broke his fall about eight feet down, and while he was dangling another worker connected him with a second safety line. He was hanging on the back side of the theater, facing Clinton Street.

The fire department arrived and utilized two “cherry pickers” to reach the roof and bring the man to safety.

“If he didn’t have his fall protection on, he would have fallen all the way down,” said Fire Chief Mark McLees. “OSHA only allows you to fall so far before that fall protection is supposed to grab, so it worked as designed.”

Read more here or view the dramatic rescue video below:

Removal of stairway attempt at enforced demolition.

Given the usual approach of the Chinese over enforced demolition and the removal of residents apparently by any means necessary, this story perhaps marks a softer stance by Chinese officials. But, for the residents involved, it is no less harrowing.

A furious family is suing property developers after they demolished every staircase in a seven-storey apartment block to make them quit their top floor flat.

Mum Zhao Yanhong, 42, claims developers – who want to demolish the flats in Mianyang, south west China, to build a factory – hired thugs to force out other residents but she refused to budge.

‘Then one day they turned up with machines and men and knocked out all the stairs to strand us here. They are just trying to bully us out of our home,’ said Yanhong.

The only way we can get out now is through ladders and climbing but it is very dangerous,’ she added.

Developers from Mianyang Yachuan Property Company claim they own the property and have permission to demolish it but deny any wrong doing.

Read more here.

Redundancies and relinquishing of skip hire business helps Thomspons through recession.

The demolition firm responsible for dismantling the ‘Get Carter‘ car park in Gateshead said it was in better shape to face the downturn after scrapping its skip hire business and making 64 of its workers redundant.

Northumberland-based Thompsons of Prudhoe Holding Limited saw its annual sales fall by more than £6 million to £22.9 million in the year ending March 31 2010 as it suffered from the problems facing the construction market.

The firm, which is based in Low Prudhoe, saw its workforce drop from 326 staff to 294 during the period and was forced to make a further 64 people redundant in July after closing its skip hire operations. The company saw its pre-tax profits dip only slightly from £782,439 to £620,914, with the firm hoping to sustain this figure or even increase it over the next few years after making the additional cuts.

Read more here.

DemolitionNews unveils pilot radio show about and for global demolition industry.

It’s been a slow and at times painful birth; but DemolitionNews.com’s new baby – an online radio show for and about the global demolition industry – has finally arrived.

The pilot show of our new Demo Talk Radio programme is available to listen to today and is expected to be available on iTunes later this week.

The first edition comprises a series of timely interviews and news features including:

• A look at the new higher rate of VAT with Liz Bridge of The Tax Bridge
• An interview with John Cuddy, managing director of Cuddy Group, one of the UK’s largest demolition contracting companies
• A look at the new Demolition Managers training course with Sophie Francis of the National Demolition Training Group and John Woodward of C&D Consultancy
• A Three-Minute Pitch from Garry Adey of European Attachments Group
• And a straw poll of UK demolition market optimism with contributions from AR Demolition, CMEC Demolition, Comley & Sons Demolition, and Tyne Tees Demolition.

“The switch from written word to spoken word was always going to be challenging and we did have some issues with recording levels and the like,” says DemolitionNews.com founder Mark Anthony. “But we’re delighted with the content of this first show and even more so by the support shown by the guests and sponsors that helped us produce this pilot show. We have all learned a great deal and we’re now looking forward to applying those lessons in producing our second show.”

To listen to the show on your computer now, please hit the play button below. If you would prefer to download it to listen later, please click here and follow the instructions. And if you’re an Apple iTunes user, please watch thsi space as we hope to have the show available for free download there within the next day or two.

And if you would like to advertise within a forthcoming broadcast, please check out our sponsorship area for details on pricing.

Toys and children’s clothes buried by emergency demolition.

A Gloucester charity has lost most of its stock after part of a building it used had to be demolished.

Northgate Mansions in Spreadeagle Road was sealed off on 30 December when it began to fall down.

A wing was later demolished and a store room containing toys, prams and children’s clothes belonging to the Life Care centre was destroyed.

“We’ve lost two-thirds of our equipment which is devastating,” said spokeswoman Bernadette Padfield.

Read more here.