Demolition News is now hosting a discussion community on The Construction Network.

We live in an age dominated by social media and networking systems. And even though we spend our every waking (and a few non-waking) hours in front of a computer screen, it is difficult to keep up with this fast-moving and ever-changing sector.

Here at Demolition News, where online contacts are our very lifeblood, we actively use networks such as Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook although recent developments in the latter have now cast serious doubts over our continued presence there.

However these networks are, by their very nature, general in nature and tend to attract children with a penchant for diggers and explosions as much as they attract true demolition professionals.

Which is precisely why we have signed up The Construction Network (tCn), an online community of like-minded construction professionals. In fact, we have gone one stage further, establishing a demolition community within tCn to allow users to discuss the latest developments in our industry, share news and views, and generally get-together online in a way that is impossible with the more general online sites.

If you’d like to join tCn and start adding your own comments, please click here. Alternatively, you might also like to check out the introductory video (below) hosted by England rugby legend, Jason Leonard.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Cherry operation turns asphalt shingles into roadbed materials.

Houston-based demolition and deconstruction specialist Cherry is now accepting “clean,” residential composition asphalt shingles for recycling at its recycling facility at 616 FM 521, Fresno. Cherry accepts used and manufacturer waste shingles at no charge, and plans to open additional shingle-recycling locations in Houston.

“By ‘clean,’ we mean that a load of shingles must not contain any wood, paper or other debris,” said Wesley Guidry, General Manager of Cherry’s Portable Recycling Division. “However, we will accept metal flashing for recycling. And, we will supply trash bags and dumpsters for disposal of paper and debris generated from shingle job sites—all at no charge.”

Guidry explained that Cherry will use special grinder machines to process the shingles into material for use in roadbeds and as dust suppressants for crushed concrete roads throughout Texas.

“Shingles are a valuable resource and shouldn’t be tossed into landfills,” says Bill Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA). “Because this type of residential shingle is 100 percent recyclable, transforming it into usable roadbed material is the right thing to do for the environment.”

According to the CMRA, approximately 11 million tons of waste shingles are generated nationally each year. Of this total, the organization estimates that only 1-2 million tons are being recycled for further use, with the remainder ending up in landfills.

“Asphalt shingle recycling helps reduce construction and demolition waste, which is the goal of many states as well as the Environmental Protection Agency,” Guidry added. “In addition, shingle recycling contributes to sustainability in construction practices, as well as green building objectives.”

Cherry already recycles more than one million tons of concrete and 40,000 tons of steel each year, and is considered one of the biggest recyclers in the state of Texas.

Medical equipment repairs to continue while demolition takes place overhead.

Some staff from Adelaide’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital will have to keep working in a basement while demolition work is done above them. The Public Service Association (PSA) says 17 biomedical engineering staff who repair medical equipment – pacemakers, ventilators etc – will have work despite the noise, dust and vibration from demolition work on a four-storey building.

But CEO of the Central and Northern Adelaide Health Service Martin Turner says the distractions will not be as bad the PSA is suggesting.

He says noise will be minimised and should not affect the engineers’ ability to do their jobs.

“We’ve taken a lot of advice from our contractors, from SafeWork SA and from our own health and safety people and we are happy and satisfied that it’s appropriate for these workers to stay there during the demolition period,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Helicam provides unique view of demolition works.

OK, so the demolition of a timber-frame inn at the Whitefish Mountain Resort was never going to be too exciting; and the fact that the following footage was (apparently) shot on a Canon T2i/550D camera is of interest to only the photography and videography nerds among us.

But what sets this superb quality video aside from the run-of-the-mill demolition video is its unique perspective, with a large proportion of the footage being shot from the air via “helicam”. Enjoy.

Helicam Alpinglow Inn Demolition from Jeff Scholl on Vimeo.

Human remains found again at vacant Cleveland funeral home during demolition.

The cremated remains of five people were found this week during demolition of an abandoned East Side funeral home in Cleveland, Ohio where the unclaimed ashes of 43 people were found eight years ago.

Workers for A&D Contracting told police they found the ashes in tagged plastic bags on Monday morning, in the former M.L. Baldwin Funeral Chapel on Crawford Road at Wade Park Avenue.

The workers said the ashes were on a shelf that was empty when they left the site on Friday. Neighbors said the bags were left on the shelf by curiosity-seekers who discovered them while picking through the building on Sunday.

Police removed the bags from the site on Monday afternoon. Their disposition could not be determined on Tuesday. The coroner’s office was not involved, a spokesman said.

The previous discovery of cremated human remains came when the city’s building department was inspecting the condemned property for asbestos in June 2002.

Read the full story here.

Warehouse demolition leads to asbestos complaints from local residents.

An official complaint has been lodged over demolition work that locals say led to asbestos clouds spreading to a busy high street. Residents in Brentford, Middlesex, said the demolition of the warehouses in Commerce Road was inappropriate for the hazardous nature of the material involved.

Michael Bonin and Alistair Reid, who own a boat on the adjacent River Brent, said they were skeptical that enough had been done to contain the asbestos fibres which, as well as being carcinogenic, cause a variety of respiratory ailments.

They have lodged complaints with Hounslow Council and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Mr Reid, a construction industry veteran, said “If you want to demolish [asbestos cement roofing sheets] you have to take down the roof by hand and double bag it and dispose of it as hazardous waste. But they were just demolishing the building willy-nilly.”

Read more here.

Lisbon Elevator Fire Broke Out Just After Demolition Began.

Demolition of a century-old grain elevator had just started when a spark from a torch lit part of the structure on fire Monday.

Firefighters from 11 towns responded around 1:30 p.m. to battle the blaze at Wilkin Elevator, 102 E. Fifth Ave. No one was injured, but the fire destroyed a milling area and the main receiving leg.

The owner of the property, Jason Owen of Solon, said he closed on the vacant property last Wednesday. Demolition began Monday morning, with contracted workers using torches to dismantle legs for overhead grain bins, he said.

“One guy said the sparks got up under the tin and caught the wood on fire,” Lisbon Fire Chief Joe Long said. “They tried to put it out with the fire extinguisher, but didn’t have any luck.”

Read more here.

Advanced Explosive Demolition’s Eric and Lisa Kelly talk about The Imploders.

Fresh from blasting certain elements of the US demolition industry here on Demolition News, Eric Kelly and his wife Lisa, the team behind Advanced Explosive Demolition, have given an interview to LA Talk Radio.

In the interview, the pair discuss how they came to be involved in the demolition industry, and The Learning Channel TV programme The Imploders that is airing now in the US.

To listen to the interview, just click here.

Europe’s largest demolition contract nears completion with silo implosion.

Erith Group, the company behind Europe’s largest demolition contract, has imploded the six remaining silos on the Lafarge site in Northfleet, Kent.

The implosion, which is captured on this exclusive Demolition News video, marks the latest major phase in a contract that is nearing completion months ahead of schedule.

Tea brand offers chance to “press the button” on UK building implosion.

Despite some differences in local and national legisaltion, demolition is roughly the same the world over. However, here in the UK, we do have a few industry peculiarities that differentiate this green and pleasant land: Regardless of how much protective equipment they’re wearing, a UK demolition operative will always find a way to expose at least a third of his buttocks when bending over; Fridays are known universally as POETS Day (p**s off early, tomorrow’s Saturday); and at least one hour on a Monday morning must be devoted to laughing at a colleague who saw his favourite football (soccer) team lose at the weekend.

Another key element that separates UK demolition workers from those around the world is their love of tea. Indeed, here in the UK, many still believe that tea can cure everything from depression to cancer and that it can resolve national disputes and international wars.

So it is, perhaps, fitting that the team behind the Make Mine a Builders‘ tea brand have decided to work with the UK demolition industry to create its biggest marketing campaign to date.

Together with Precision Demolition Company Limited and C&D Consultancy, Make Mine a Builders is offering one person the chance to press the button on an as-yet-unnamed building implosion later this year.

“We have been demolishing the competition in tea taste tests and wanted to give one of our customers the exciting, once-in-a-lifetime chance to do the same to a building,” explains Make Mine a Builders’ Jonathan Chiu.

To enter, tea drinkers have to guess the six-digit demolition code. Entry forms can be found on the back of promotional packs at Morrisons or online at www.makemineabuilders.com . The promotion closes 30 July 2010.