If DemolitionNews appears unusually quiet today, you’ll know why.

Frustrated by Demolition Master? Bored with Demolition Company? Driven to distraction by Demolition City? Realising that you’re just too old for computer and video games? Then leading Scottish demolition company Safedem may have the answer.

The company has put a modern environmental spin on the familiar game of Jenga, using timber salvaged from demolition projects to create the miniature wooden blocks. Known in Safedem circles as “Knockemdoon” (it works best if you say it with a Scottish accent), these are packed in a branded Safedem box that displays the company’s explosive demolition expertise and some key facts about the company itself.

The game is the brainchild of Safedem managing director William Sinclair, and reflects both the demolition and recycling aspects of the company’s business. “The timber blocks came from the flooring of multi storey demolitions in Dundee,” Sinclair says. “I got a guy with a timber lathe to make them for us, and we then sent them to the printers to put our logo on. The whole set is only about 18cm tall – 7″ in old money – just the right size for use on a desk.”

Sinclair reports that he has some 500 sets ready for distribution, many of which are destined for local schoolchildren as part of the company’s renowned community liaison efforts.

DemolitionNews can report that the game is addictive and infuriating in roughly equal measure, but that it’s also a welcome throwback to a time when games were for all the family, not just those with square eyes and thumbs capable of moving at the speed of hummingbird wings.

To celebrate the launch of Knockemdoon, Safedem has very kindly provided us with a set to giveaway as part of a competition. For a chance to win that set, just answer the following simple question:

Answers should be sent via email to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk. The winner will be drawn at random from the entries received. Entries MUST be received by 31 March 2011.

Amateur video captures final moments of Pioneer grain elevator.

The town of Oyen’s most recognizable landmark – the Pioneer grain elevator – was brought down in an implosion Tuesday afternoon. And an amateur videographer was on hand to catch the action.

Read more here or watch the video below.

Predicted weather conditions look perfect for tomorrow’s implosion.

Weather conditions for Friday remain favorable for the implosion of the Mohave Generating Station exhaust stack, according to Gil Alexander, Southern California Edison spokesman.

The 152 metre (500-foot) structure will be brought down at approximately 9 a.m. PST and 10 a.m. MST, as part of the coal-fired power plant’s decommissioning process.

Alexander said the schedule continued to stand as of Wednesday, but he will reconfirm today “because weather conditions can change unexpectedly.” To illustrate the point, he said the implosion could not have been performed Wednesday.

The Clark County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management requires sustained wind speed at the time of the implosion not exceed 10 miles per hour, and gusts cannot be greater than 20 miles per hour.

Read more here.

TV news crew footage of implosion in Colombian capital.

Being British, we scarcely speak one language, let alone two. So quite what this news anchor is actually saying remains shrouded in mystery.

All we do know is that the resulting video shows an implosion taking place during the past few days in Bogota, Colombia. It’s hard to tell fromt he dust cloud, but it appears that this was very nearly a partial stand-up. And judging by the closing shot, there’s still a fair amount of work to be done.

New video captures speedy front end equipment change.

We’re not sure what has impressed us most about this video from Volvo Construction Equipment GB: the excellent footage of their demolition equipment in operation; or the fact that they’re using both YouTube and Facebook to promote it.

Either way, it makes for great viewing.

Implosions, set to the Old Spice ad theme? What’s not to love?

We are reliably informed that the following piece of music is called O’Fortuna and it is from Carmina Burana by Carl Orf (but since our musical tastes largely begin and end in the late 1970s and early 80s, we’lll have to take Wikipedeia’s answer for it). Either way, it is probably better know – to those of us of a certain age at least – as the Old Spice theme.

Whatever it’s called, it was crying out for someone to set it to some spectacular implosions, which is precisely what Gladiator Production has done. The result – Demolition – The Opera. Enjoy.

Presence of asbestos prolongs contract, drives up costs.

The cost to demolish the old YMCA building in Riverfront Park, Spokane, Washington is increasing after contractors found more asbestos in the building than they originally thought existed.

An asbestos abatement company sent demolition teams a letter last month informing them the cost of removal would be higher than anticipated. Parks Department administrators are in the process of amending the contract to pay for the overrun.

Contractors are asking the City for as much as $80,000 extra to remove additional asbestos. The City is also spending an extra $20,000 to tear down a nearby building. The total extras are expected to cost at least $100,000.

“We’re still within budget,” said park director Leroy Eadie. “We’re not worried about that. We’re going to watch the demolition costs carefully.”

Eadie said the City wanted to spend $800,000 on demolition and $500,000 to build several look-out points on the Spokane River while planting trees and shrubs in the area.

The City is approaching the $800,000 mark. Any more increases could force the City to alter their plans for the land restoration.

Read more here .

Failure to address asbestos lands demolition company in court.

An Alberta company was ordered to pay a $35,000 penalty Tuesday relating to its failure to address the hazard of asbestos exposure at an Edmonton demolition site.

Eco-Industrial Business Park Inc. was fined $5,000 after pleading guilty in provincial court to a charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

As well, the company must make a $30,000 donation to the Alberta Workers Health Centre, a charitable group that educates workers about unsafe jobsite situations.

According to agreed facts, Eco-Industrial purchased the former Celanese Edmonton plant located at 1250 Hayter Rd. on Jan. 9, 2008, and was doing demolition work on various buildings on the site as part of a redevelopment.

Within the project, the company contracted with Canadian Consolidated Salvage Ltd. to do a salvage and demolition job at a former cigarette processing plant there, beginning in the summer of 2008.

On Aug. 22, 2008, Occupational Health and Safety investigators were onsite for an unrelated work injury and became concerned about materials containing asbestos after noting loose insulation and significant amounts of white powder surrounding some dismantled piping.

Read more here.

First it was asbestos fines, now its a lack of references.

Middleboro demolition company Costello Dismantling has missed out on a prestigious contract to take down the cupola on the local Town Hall, despite bidding roughly half as much as the company that won the job.

Selectmen awarded the contract to Murray Bros which bid $16,609 instead of the low bidder, Costello Dismantling Co., because it did not provide references. Costello bid just $8,800.

This latest disappointment follows just over a month after Costello was hit with a $45,000 fine for failing to notify the presence of asbestos on a separate contract.

Read more here

House said to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald faces wrecking ball.

“..This is a valley of ashes; a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air…”

The dramatic but dilapidated Sands Point mansion that some F. Scott Fitzgerald scholars believe served as inspiration for portions of “The Great Gatsby” will soon be reduced to rubble.

The owners of Lands End, a 25-room colonial mansion that sits in grand isolation above Long Island Sound, plan to raze the structure to make way for a five-lot subdivision, each with a $10 million home, according to Sands Point Village Clerk Randy Bond. Some Fitzgerald enthusiasts point to the 1902 residence as the template for Daisy Buchanan’s home.

Read more here.