Video captures hotel demolition.

We don’t actually know where this project is taking place (although the company is based in Dubai so that may be a clue) but, regardless of geographic location, it makes for a pretty good demolition video:

Well, as you can see from this correction, it took us a while to track it down but we can now confirm that the Ritz Carlton Hotel being demolished in this video is at Jumeriah Beach, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The work is being carried out by Dubai-based The GTS Group using a high reach excavator purchased from Mutley Plant right here in the UK.

Fine for company in crushing death at Australian demolition site

A Liverpool (Australia, not the North West of England) company has been fined $100,000 and ordered to pay WorkCover’s legal costs after a Minto man was crushed to death at a demolition site.

The 58-year-old was killed when a loading ramp collapsed after a hydraulic lifter malfunctioned at the site in Fairfield in January 2008.

The incident was caused by the failure of a pivot pin causing the ramp to collapse, crushing the worker underneath.

The Industrial Court of NSW found that P and D Transport did not have any system for periodic inspection of the trailer or pivot pins in place.

The sole director of the transport company, Paul Houghton, was separately charged and fined $5000 by the court and ordered to pay a proportion of WorkCover’s legal costs.

Read more here.

Councillor with semi-demolished tower block says collapsed company was “significantly cheaper”

Hindsight, as the saying goes, is always 20:20. And certainly the collapse of Midlands-based Armoury Demolition and the resulting fallout which has left the town of Basingstoke seeking an alternative company to finish the demolition of a local tower block is an object lesson in the “if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is” school of hard-knocks.

Cllr James Lewin admitted Armoury’s quote for the job had been ‘significantly cheaper’ than those other companies. But he said the company’ references had been good enough to make it first choice.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we had no reason to believe that this would happen,” he says. “I know many people in their personal life would be steered clear if someone came in offering to do the work at a much cheaper price than everyone else, but local authorities can’t legally do that.”

In reaction to Armoury’s collapse, the opposition Labour group is calling for a review into the council’s tendering process.

Read more here.

The demolition project where prices go up faster than buildings come down.

The original estimated cost of tearing down the Sinclair meatpacking plant was $7.366 million. Flooding, two fires and the presence of “mouldy corn” drove the price up to $15.3-million. But newspaper reports now suggest that the cost to tear down the former Sinclair meatpacking plant here has now gone over $20 million.

The latest addition to the demolition is the expected cost of $947,754 for an additional 123,085 cubic yards of dirt needed to fill the holes at the former plant site, according to Greg Eyerly, the city’s flood-recovery director.

The latest expense will bring the expected demolition cost to $20.99 million, 90 percent of which is being paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 10 percent by the state of Iowa.

Read more here.

Company collapse brings Basingstoke rejuvenation to standstill.

But the company went into administration on December 23, meaning that work to tear down the 10-storey blocks has not restarted after the Christmas break. However, borough chiefs who are behind the scheme, say they are confident the work will continue and may be completed within three months once a new contractor has been found.

Cllr James Lewin, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “The council remains totally committed to creating a 21st Century urban business park of regional importance as part of our transformation of Basingstoke town centre. The demolition company going into administration is unfortunate but we are in a strong position with half of the most difficult work already completed. Therefore, I remain confident that we should still be able to complete the contract within the earmarked growth point funding we received from central government and with only a few months’ delay.”

He said officers have been in discussions with the administrators and are working to get the project back on track as quickly as possible. The demolition had been scheduled for completion by April this year, but could still be finished in the summer.

Read more here.

US motor industry takes another blow as another GM plant faces the wrecking ball.

The City of Wyoming is releasing plans for the former General Motors plant on 36th Street in Wyoming, Michigan.

Lormax Stern Development from West Bloomfield, Michigan has agreed to buy the plant and work with the City of Wyoming to redevelop the property. WZZM 13’s Peter Ross says that the land would be redeveloped for advanced manufacturing or as an industrial park.

Lormax Stern plans to demolish the plant. Then, the company intends to sell the location back to the city of Wyoming for $1.

Read more here.

Don’t you wish you’d read this before you set up YOUR demolition business.

If you’re a regular reader of DemolitionNews.com, the chances are you’re probably already running or working in an existing demolition business. But if by some obscure chance you’re considering starting a ew demolition business and are using this site purely for research purposes, then oh boy do we have the article for you.

According to this exhaustively-researched article which was clearly written by demolition’s answer to William Shakespeare, lays out in simple steps the process of starting a new demolition company. Apparently, preparing a budget is step one, followed by coming up with a suitable name, designing a logo, obtaining a permit and acquiring suitable accommodation for what is sure to be a market-leading company overnight.

Now, by this time, I am sure you’re starting to wonder just when we’re going to get to the need for attaining skills and qualifications in the demolition process. But don’t worry, your wait is over.

Step five in the 6-step process is hiring employees. And it is here where the wisdom of the writer really comes to the fore:

“…It is best to hire the individuals who have background on demolition services so that one will not have to worry about training employees. One can start with a small number of staff and eventually hire more if the business hit big….”

You can read the article’s other pearls of wisdom here and comment below; just don’t expect a response from us right away as we’re off to start our own demolition company this afternoon. Brandenburg beware!

Council to pick demolition company for Holly Street Power Plant later today.

It is a bidding process that has lasted almost as long as the forthcoming demolition is likely to; and a story that has taken more twists and turns than a drunken slalom skier. But the decision over who finally gets to tear down the Holly Street power plant is expected later today, bringing to a partial conclusion a bid and counter-bid process that has seen the contract variously valued at $7 million and $27 million and just about all figures in between.

Last May six contractors bid on the demolition project. The lowest bid was just under $14 million. The highest was almost $27 million. Less than one point separates the top two scoring companies and a $6 million difference in bid price.

Council Member Randi Shade says demolishing a power plant is not the kind of work the city does every day. She wants to understand the difference between the top two proposals.

“This was not a project put out for a bid solely based on price,” Shade said. “It was based on the team’s experience. It was based on the scope of the work.”

Read more here or watch the video below:

Bridge sale and demolition dispute set for 22 February hearing

A hearing pertaining to summary judgment over the Bellaire Bridge dispute will take place today in Kootenai County, Idaho, according to Lee Chaklos of Delta Demolition and KDC Investments. KDC and AED both claim ownership of the Bellaire Bridge. A full trial in the dispute has been set for 22 February.

KDC previously sought an injunction from the court that would have permitted the firm to begin work to take down the span while court action continued. That injunction was denied by a Dec. 15 court ruling that there are too many “unresolved issues” in the case.

The court order notes that the federal district court in Ohio on Dec. 23, 2009 ordered the bridge to be demolished by no later than Dec. 21, 2011. At the time of that order, the bridge was owned by Bellaire businessman Roger Barack. Barack sold the bridge to AED in May 2010 for $1.

Two separate agreements next were discussed by AED and KDC in the following days.

The first was a “purchase agreement,” in which KDC agreed to purchase the bridge from AED for $25,000. The agreement was signed May 20, 2010, and KDC assumed responsibility for “proper demolition and removal (of the bridge) on or before June 1, 2011.”

The second was a “demolition agreement” executed on June 1, 2010, in which KDC agreed to hire AED to blast the bridge once preliminary demolition was complete. This demolition agreement lacked a signature on its first page from KDC, according to the order.

KDC since has opted to not use AED for the Bellaire Bridge project, prompting AED to seek court action. KDC ignores a bigger legal question, according to the order.

“If AED is administratively dissolved prior to entering into the purchase agreement – and a dissolved corporation cannot transact business other than to wind up its affairs – then how could AED have entered in to the sale agreement with KDC?” the court order asked.

Calls to AED at the phone number listed on its website receive a recorded message saying the number “has been disabled.”

Chaklos pointed out other remarks in the order noting that AED did not return to KDC the $25,000 the firm paid to AED for the bridge, and unless that happened KDC owns the bridge.

AED owner Eric Kelley and his attorney “can’t get the bridge back,” Chaklos said. “We tendered the money. It is ours. He did not offer to buy it back.”

Read the full story here.

Demolition of former barracks stirs memories of Northern Ireland’s troubled past.

There were times, in the not too distant past, when residents of Northern Ireland must have wondered if their segregated homeland would ever see peace. And there were few more potent symbols of that country’s troubles than the Short Strand barracks used by both the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army during its prolonged occupation.

But like Northern Ireland’s troubles, the barracks’ divisive power is now a thing of the past and it is being demolished to make way for new and much-needed social housing.

And if that wasn’t sufficient proof that Northern Ireland is a very different country today, the fact that the following video is produced by Sinn Fein television – historically the most vocal opponents to the barracks – surely is.