Ron Hull takes down largest structure at century old pit

Experts at Rotherham-based Ron Hull Demolition have successfully demolished the hundred foot high coal train loading bunker on the Welbeck Colliery in North Nottinghamshire.

Production at the century old pit, one of the last two working collieries in Nottinghamshire, ended in May and the site is now being cleared by a specialist team.

Colliery manager Geoff Mountain, who is supervising the sealing of the mine and clean up of the site, said: “The rapid loading bunker was used to fill coal trains at high speed. It was capable of filling a train with sixteen or seventeen hundred tons in just two hours.

“Because of the height of the bunker and the fact that so much of the weight was in the series of hoppers in the top of the structure, it was decided that the quickest and safest way of demolishing it was to use explosives.”

David Wall, contracts director at Ron Hull added: “It went down very gracefully and with remarkably little damage to the main structure. When the smoke cleared it was simply lying on its side. We can now get to work and dismantle it safely.

You can read more here or, alternatively, hop over to DemolishDismantle to check out an exclusive video of the implosion.

Deutsche Bank building claims one last victim as it’s laid to rest.

There have been times in the past 10 years or so when it seemed that Manhattan’s Deutsche Bank building was, in fact, cursed.

Damaged beyond repair in the horrific 9/11 attacks on the neighbouring World Trade Centre, the structure went on to claim the lives of two firefighters, was the seat of more accidents and incidents than anyone cares to recall, and is likely to be the cause of a multi-million dollar lawsuit stemming from its seemingly never-ending demolition.

And now, with the structure down to ground level and demolition crews packing up and going home, the Tombstone at Ground Zero has given one last death-throes twitch that resulted in a broken wrist for the man overseeing its demolition.

Touring the site, possibly for the final time, David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp, slipped, broke his wrist and was hospitalised for the injury. He may require surgery, acording to reports.

Read more here

New report suggests demolition as solution to Dubai’s property over-capacity.

There was a time, less than four years ago, when it was claimed that over half the world’s tower cranes were working in Dubai. Rarely has the world witnessed such wildfire construction, as developers pandered to the property desires of the rich and famous to build ever-larger, ever-more-extravagant edifices along the Dubai man-made coastline.

Just as surely as eggs is eggs, the economic recession hit Dubai full-force. But unlike cities in the real world, Dubai just kept on spending; kept on building. A glut of vacant office space is continuing to spiral, despite the economic crisis, thanks to the forests of new tower blocks started by developers as the boom reached it peak in 2007, researchers said.

With some “holes in the ground” awaiting further development already being filled in, further radical solutions to the problem are needed, said the authors, researching for the property firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

“The best prospect for reducing vacancies lies with initiatives to limit future supply and encourage the withdrawal of existing buildings from stock through conversion to non-office buildings or even demolition,” the report concludes.

Read more here.

UK’s oldest demolition contractor steps away from industry amidst recession.

With a history that can be traced back to 1855, Goodman Price Demolition bills itself as the UK’s oldest demolition contractor. In more than a century and a half, the company has endured two World Wars, survived eight monarchs and 30 prime ministers, and seen off countless fluctuations in economic fortune and market sentiment.

But DemolitionNews understands that the company has now been forced to put its demolition activities on the back-burner while the current recession has destroyed workloads and eroded margins in the company’s South East of England territory.

DemolitionNews has spoken to the company but its directors have justifiably chosen not to speak publicly on the matter at this time. We understand, however, that Goodman Price has laid off all its demolition-related personnel and will be running with a skeleton staff in the hope that the move out of demolition proves to be temporary.

The fact that the company has managed what equates to a “soft-landing”, avoiding bankruptcy and debt is certainly to be applauded, and is a testament to the company’s financial acumen. But following hot on the heels of the collapse of both Controlled Group and, more recently, Armoury Demolition, it is another bitter blow for the beleaguered UK demolition sector.

Transmission tower demolition underway.

After forming part of Perth’s skyline for half a century, demolition began this morning on the ABC transmission tower.

Located on Terrace Road, spectators looked on from Langley Park as the work began on the old ABW2 site, The West Australian reports.

The project started one week later than initially planned, after the original crane hired was not long enough to complete the work. However, a replacement crane enabled worked to get underway today, at a cost of $2700 per hour.

Finbar spokesperson Ronald Chan said that demolition of the eighty-five metre tall landmark was progressing well. “They’re moving along very fast,” he said. “They have taken the first two sections off the top and they’re proceeding with the bottom part at the moment.”

Read more here.

Work stopped as contractor toured area warning residents of imminent demolition.

The demolition of a landmark industrial chimney was halted with just hours to spare. Moorlands councillors rushed through emergency measures yesterday to save the 100 metre feature at the Bolton’s Copper Works site at Froghall, near Cheadle.

It was due to be demolished at 11am today, despite residents and councillors protesting about the loss of a monument to Moorlands industrial heritage.

As contractors toured the neighbourhood yesterday warning residents of its imminent destruction, eleventh hour attempts were being made to preserve it for future generations.

At a meeting of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s cabinet, members agreed to include the chimney, which dominates the scenic Churnet Valley, in the Caldon Canal Conservation Area. The decision means that site owner Sterling Investments cannot now pull it down.

Read more here.

Contractor fined over lack of supervision that led to roof fall.

A demolition company has appeared in court for failing to provide its employees with a safe system of work during the bulldozing of a block of garages.

H. Cope and Sons Ltd was contracted to demolish around 1100 council-owned garages across Lincolnshire. The garages, which were used by council-house tenants, were deemed structurally unsafe and were being knocked down in order for new garages to be built.

On 13 January 2009, two contractors from H. Cope and Sons were demolishing a block of 21 garages at Walmsgate Place in Grimsby, when one of the workers fell through a garage roof. The garages, which were situated on a slope, were split into groups of three with a step on the roof joining each set with the next group.

One of the men removed the asbestos flashing, which covered the steps, and leant over the edge of the building to drop the sheets into a skip. But he lost his balance and fell backwards through the remaining roof sheets, landing on the ground seven feet below. He broke his right leg and wrist, which has required him to undergo several operations to insert pins and plates into the limbs. He has been unable to return to work owing to his injuries.

HSE inspector, Dave Bradley, told SHP that the firm had prepared a method statement, which indicated that the work should be done from a tower scaffold. However this had not been communicated to the men, who subsequently created their own method of work without any supervision.

Read more here.

Security company points finger of blame over Chinese demolition beating death.

Members of a security guard company in north China’s Shanxi Province yesterday pleaded not guilty and denied beating a man to death over a demolition dispute, saying they merely followed the government orders.

Wu Ruijun, who ran the Qixing Security Guard Company, said the company was owned by Jinsheng Township in Taiyuan, the provincial capital. Officials indicated “they can break protesters’ legs or arms” before carrying out the demolition

But the township authorities denied the allegation, China Youth Daily reported today. The company’s workers were facing charges of intentional injury and vandalism.

Read more here.

Another giant building begins to fall in Tennessee.

Demolition work has begun on another giant building at a former uranium enrichment plant in West Oak Ridge. This time, it’s the 13 hectare (32-acre) K-33 Building on the western side of the former K-25 Site.

As of early January, about 65 percent of K-33’s siding had been removed and roughly eight percent of the two-story building had been demolished, U.S. Department of Energy spokesman Michael Koentop said. The project began last September with workers clearing an 24 metre (80-foot) perimeter around the 12,0,000 square metre (1.3 million-square-foot) building. “We’re on schedule,” Koentop said. “It’s a real success story for us.”

Demolition work is funded by federal economic stimulus funding – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – and could be completed by 1 March 2012. Debris will be hauled to DOE’s Environmental Management Waste Management Facility on Bear Creek Road.

DOE announced in April 2010 that it had awarded a $51 million contract for the demolition work to LATA-Sharp Remediation Services LLC of Westerville, Ohio. The project employs 260 workers.

Read more here.

Failure to report asbestos was “pretty much a paperwork issue…”

A Middleboro demolition company has been fined for failing to report asbestos found in underground ductwork on a site in Worcester.

Costello Dismantling Company has been fined a combined $45,000 along with J.H. Lynch & Sons, Inc., of Cumberland, R.I., according to a statement Monday from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The fine was assessed because the contractors did not report asbestos that was found in underground ductwork at a site in Worcester where a Wal-Mart, Olive Garden and other retail stores were built in 2008, according to DEP spokesman Edmund J. Coletta Jr.

John Hastings, Costello’s chief financial officer, said the matter was “pretty much a paperwork issue.”

Read more here.