Supplier makes impassioned plea for help with insurance claim.

It is never good to see a demolition company fail, but it’s even worse when that company’s collapse threatens the livelihood of innocent suppliers. Which is why we are trying to help Yorkshire-based generator rental specialist Power-Rite to track down a pair of former Controlled Group employees who might just be able to save the company from an avoidable £20,000 loss.

Power-Rite’s Shaun Hymes says that one of his company’s generators was on Controlled Group’s Kingston House site in Liverpool when the contractor’s business collapsed but apparently went missing before administrators carried out a full inventory check. “The administrators are saying it was not on site so, in addition to losing £10,000 in revenue, I am also a £10k generator down.”

Hymes says that Controlled Group’s administrators have suggested that he claim for the loss of the generator through his own insurance, but Hymes says that his insurance excess is actually greater than the value of the equipment.

“I am trying to contact someone from the former Controlled Group who could help me prove the generator was on site when the company collapsed,” Hymes continues. “If anyone can help me to verify this, please get in touch.”

Power-Rite’s full contact details can be found here, and Shaun can be emailed direct at shaun@power-rite.co.uk.

DemolitionNews backs Armac Group’s fundraising for employee hurt in horrific accident.

We know times are hard, that work is scarce and that profits are all but non-existent. But we also know that the demolition industry is notoriously generous, particularly in its support of its own.

Which is why we’re calling on you to lend your financial support to an important fundraising initiative. Organised by Armac Group, the fundraising is to aid Danny Shields, one of its promising young employees who was injured in a road accident while on duty for the company.

You can read Danny’s full story here but we’ll warn you in advance – It is written by his mother and is deeply moving.

So where do you come in? Quite simply, we want your money. But we’re also pleased to offer something in return.

Any company or individual making a contribution of £20 or more to the fund will be given a FREE LISTING on our Business Directory (normally priced at £50). Furthermore, as we will be working with the Armac Group and following the progress of this fundraising closely, we will also highlight here on our front page any companies or individuals that have made a contribution, no matter how small.

To find out how to make a pledge, please visit the Pledge Appeal page on the Armac Group website now.

As we said at the beginning, we know times are hard. But we would ask you to dig deep to help this brave individual. Give the fund a little, and we’ll do our best to give you a lot in return.

Never mind what your careers advisor says, demolition is not always a bed of roses.

We openly admit that we’re susceptible to a touch of the Monday Morning Blues here at Demolition News Towers. A weekend of quiet reflection, followed by the compiling of our This Week in Demolition email newsletter generally just leaves us on the verge of a Falling Down moment.

So rather than stewing quietly to ourselves, we thought that this week – by way of a change – we would vent our collective spleens to shed some light on the true pros and cons of a career in demolition.

Demolition Pros & Cons

But this is by no means a definitive list. So we are throwing it open to you to use the comments area below to tell us what’s great (and what’s not so great) about a life in demolition.

We look forward to reading your contributions.

UK failed to transpose EU legislation into British law.

The European Commission has requested that the UK amend its regulations on asbestos at work because they do not comply fully with the parent EU Directive, reports Safety & Health Practitioner.

Delivered in the form of a reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures, the Commission wants the UK to change provisions in its legislation that exempt some maintenance and repair activities from the application of the EU Directive on the protection of workers from asbestos.

It follows a complaint received by the Commission that Article 3(3)(a) and (b) of the asbestos Directive 2009/148/EC has not been correctly transposed into UK law. Article 3(3) offers the possibility for an exemption from three obligations set out in the Directive for activities that involve only sporadic and low-intensity exposure to asbestos – for example, in the case of some maintenance and repair activities.

However, in the Commission’s view, the UK law omits specific parts of Article 3(3)(a) and (b), and so widens the scope of the exemption. The Commission says the UK legislation focuses on the measurement of exposure to asbestos but not enough on how the material can be affected by the work involved. The Directive deals with both exposure and the material.

The UK now has two months to bring its legislation into line with EU law, or risk the matter being referred to the EU’s Court of Justice.

Read more here.

Revealing failure to disclose “green demolition” option skews Newark bid process.

There is just so much wrong with this picture that we scarcely know where to begin. Of course, the most obvious shortcoming is the fact that low bidder Steve Roberts was planning to undertake the demolition of two buildings for less than the next nearest bid was planning to charge for two.

But that, apparently, is merely the tip of the iceberg. And the two-thirds that lurk just below the surface perhaps says more about the US demolition industry’s attitude to the environment than it does about the failings of the bid process.

A report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the reason for the disparity between the low bid and the other six bids on the shortlist was that the city knew the low-bidder planned to defer some if its cost by recycling brick and foundation stones, therefore minimising disposal costs.

“There was no indication that the city afforded the other bidders the same opportunity,” Jorgelle Lawson, director of the HUD Columbus field office’s Community Planning and Development Department wrote in the letter. “Based on this information, we believe this is a clear violation. … The city failed to provide all bidders with the fact they could use ‘green’ demolition. This failed to allow free and open competition.”

In the city’s 11 February response, it stated that the city did not require the “green demolition,” but the low bidder, Steve Roberts, opted for that form of disposal.

Did not require “green demolition”? In this day and age?

It is difficult to know just who is more at fault here: the city for failing to prescribe environmentally-sound disposal methods; or the demolition contractors for continuing to identify demolition arisings as a waste rather than a potentially valuable resource.

Compare that to the UK and other parts of Europe where it is not unusual for the demolition contractor to “buy” the demolition contract in order to access the valuable materials contained within a structure, and it’s clear that the US still has much to learn about what green demolition really means.

Read more here.

Ongoing clearance of Scottish skyline continues with latest implosion.

Greenock tower block Octavia Court was reduced to rubble in just a few seconds, demolished in a controlled explosion for River Clyde Homes at 2.30am today.

Around 10 kilogrammes of explosives placed at 500 points within the empty block of flats in Sinclair Street were enough to bring the structure down.

Crowds watched from Lady Octavia Park as the explosions boomed out across Greenock. River Clyde Homes said that the location of the building made it cheaper and more convenient to demolish with explosives although the operation had to take place overnight when trains weren’t running on the nearby Wemyss Bay railway line.

A large area around the flats had been sealed off and the residents of the nearest homes were put up in a hotel during preparations on Saturday.

Tower blocks branded eyesores by locals are finally being demolished.

Work began yesterday to pull down Bayley and Stoneycroft Towers, in Bromford, after a five-year delay.

Attempts by Birmingham City Council to demolish the 20-storey blocks have been frustrated by first, the recession, and then a family of peregrine falcons.

The council had finally secured the funds to demolish the blocks last year when they found two falcons had made a nest at the top of Bayley Tower and hatched four chicks. Demolition could not start until the birds flew off, which they did at the end of last year.

Read more here.

Proof that job of videographer is almost as hazardous as demolition.

Workers demolishing an old power house at the Hanford nuclear reservation used explosives to bring down five structures, including a pair of exhaust chimneys.

And, as the video below shows, it went with quite a bang.

Fears that premature demolition could prevent site sale.

Missouri state senator Clair Mccaskill has written to the US Treasury Department in an attempt to halt what she believes to be a premature demolition of the former Chrysler manufacturing plant in Fenton.

The site was acquired by Capstone Group when Chrysler fell into bankruptcy. Following several failed attempts to sell the facility as a going concern, Captsone has entered into a contract with MCM to demolish both the North and South plants.

However, Mccaskill says that her office has received several enquiries from companies interested in purchasing the North plant intact. And she is calling on the US Treasury Department to intervene.

In her letter, Mccaskill says: “Unlike the demolition of the South Plant, Capstone appears to have moved ahead with the contract on the North Plant before receiving approval of the County to demolish it.”

The letter concludes: “There are serious questions that need to be addressed. There is real interest in the North Plant from potential buyers. If the plant is demolished prematurely, it could affect the ability to bring good-paying, long-term manufacturing jobs to the region.”

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Excellent TV quality video captures demolition of America’s Showplace.

As work on the demolition of Philadelphia’s Spectrum Stadium draws to a close, CSN have put together a TV quality video that follows the process from the first strike of that too-small wrecking ball, through the controlled roof collapse, to the final deconstruction.