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.

Another UK demolition contractor falls victim to the recession.

The UK demolition industry has scarcely recovered from the demise of Armoury Demolition last week when it has been dealt another blow with Aberdeenshire-based JG Fowlie joining it in administration.

Two north east companies have gone into administration with the loss of 164 jobs.

Staff at J G Fowlie and its parent company Les Taylor Contractors were given the news on Friday afternoon. Between them, the firms employ 192 people.

Joint receiver Colin Dempster, from Ernst and Young, said they had faced difficulties because of decline in demand.

He said: “The decline of the businesses was such that we had no other option other than to make these unfortunate job cuts.

“Some staff have been retained to assist with securing and gathering assets. We are now focused on realising assets on behalf of the companies’ creditors.”

Read more here.

Kocurek’s Ipswich facility buzzing as mammoth machine nears completion.

Back in November, we reported that Heavy Decom International‘s (HDI) new machine was just weeks away from completion. Well, the wait is almost over.

We can exclusively reveal that Kocurek Excavators Ltd, the market leading excavator conversion company charged with making the unit, is inviting customers from across the world to see a machine that combines an Hitachi EX1200 excavator with a Triple Articulated Boom.

Although both manufacturer and customer are keeping many of the specs close to their chest, DemolitionNews.com understands that the finished machine will weigh in at more than 200 tonnes and be able to take a 25 tonne shear attachment to a 20 metre working height. A 15 tonne tool can be used at 30 metres while a fly dipper will extend reach to 35 metres where the machine can still wield a seven tonne attachment.

The machine has its first job in February and is expected to be fully complete by the end of January; it is our intention to visit the machine for a closer look before then.

City closes in on target to demolish 3,000 dilapidated homes.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to rid the city of 3,000 blighted and dangerous houses in one year is on pace to do just that.

City officials tell The Associated Press that they’re about 1,150 demolitions shy of the goal, but should reach it over the next few months. About 1,850 houses have been leveled since last April.

Bing wants 10,000 vacant and abandoned houses torn down by the time his four-year term ends in December 2013. He tells the AP that the city is “committed to removing these dangerous eyesores from our neighborhoods.”

Read more here.

Clarksville fined $77K for demolition that breached asbestos rules.

The state ordered the city of Clarksville to pay $77,000 for its handling of the Ratchford Apartments demolition last year.

The fine was assessed by the Tennessee Department of Environment Conservation’s Division of Air Pollution Control, which regulates asbestos, a manufacturing material that can cause serious health problems when inhaled.

In a letter dated April 30, Randall Harrison, a department official, notified then-Mayor Johnny Piper that the city violated four state air pollution regulations regarding the handling of asbestos and two other regulations related to water disposal during the demolition. In October, the division sent Piper another letter with the fine enclosed.

Read more here.

Low bidder seeks legal recourse over Holly Street power plant.

As regular readers may recall, just before Christmas we reported on the fact that the City of Austin had taken a somewhat surprising decision to overlook a low bid from CST Environmental – which was itself $3.84 million above the city’s own estimated budget – and to opt instead for a $24.9 million bid from TRC Environmental for the demolition of the Holly Street power plant.

As we went to press, some were suggesting that this could result in legal action. Sure enough, papers shared with us exclusively and anonymously show that’s precisely what is happening. And it makes for fascinating reading.

Not only was the low bid totally overlooked, CST Environmental didn’t even get invited for an interview. To add further insult to injury, CST’s subsequent formal protest was dismissed by the city without a hearing.

In a 43-page document, CST goes on to say: “…CST is the second largest demolition contractor in the US. CST has performed substantially more jobs similar to the Holly Street Project than TRC has. In fact, TRC is not a demolition contractor; it will subcontract out all of the asbestos remediation work, which is the real substance of the project…”

We have a feeling that the legal repercussions on this one could run for almost as long as the demolition contract.

Demolition & Dismantling from Autumn 1979.

Given that the present of the UK demolition industry is filled with bad news and the future looks set to deliver more, we have taken another trip down to the bowels of the Demolition & Dismantling archives to find some much needed levity.

This latest installment in our irregular Nostalgia Corner comes from the Autumn of 1979, when the NFDC had just returned from a truly memorable annual convention at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.