“Industry surrounded by liars and thieves” according to AED blaster-in-chief.

Now Eric’s a busy guy. In between running one of the US’ foremost explosive demolition companies, Eric and his wife Lisa have a second life as celebrities thanks to their reality TV show, The Imploders, which is due to air Stateside on TLC on 6 May. So to make life easier for everyone, we agreed to send him a set of questions in advance of the interview so that he could give the questions some consideration before trying to conduct a live, trans-Atlantic telephone interview.

True to form, however, Eric decided to do things his own way and actually responded to our questions in writing which means that you’ll have to read the interview rather than listen to it. But trust us, it’s worth it.

What Eric’s answers reveal is that he is a man that is passionate about his work and the industry in which he operates; a man that is frustrated at many aspects of the US demolition business.

Eric is clearly not a guy to mess with. During Demolition News’ first communications with him, he told us in no uncertain terms that “he’d seen our type come and go” and largely dismissed the aims of this website.
However, upon reading his answers (below), we have a new-found respect for Eric Kelly; one of a dying breed.

How did you get into the blasting business in the first place?
“I am a self taught blaster that watched my Dad demo buildings. He was a Pennsylvania coal miner that explained to me the fundamentals of blasting.”

What attracted you to the business?
“I saw my Dad blast a smokestack. I was hooked and trained my desire to explosively demolish buildings, etc.”

What are the biggest challenges facing the US demolition industry as a whole, and the blasting sector in particular?
“The US market has very few players and has plenty of work for the shooters here. AED one ups the competition by tripping buildings and smokestacks.”

There seems to be a lot of talk about who has done the biggest, tallest or longest implosion – What do you make of all that?
“This I do know to be fact…one has to have done the work “successfully” to be considered as “the biggest, tallest, most, etc.”. I’ve successfully shot the largest, most, tallest. The “other” claims should be clearly investigated to find out they weren’t very “successful”. I let the competition try to one up each other and I, the best indicator is loss man hours and loss runs. AED takes a substantial market share of the US implosion business, Thank God.”

There are concerns, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, that there are very few young people coming into the explosive demolition business. You are famous for running a family business – Are you encouraging your children to follow in your footsteps?
“I sincerely believe good demolition Engineers and Blasters are a dying breed. With all the high priced gadgets and equipment out there, it takes away from the old fashioned “smash and dash” aspect of demolition. It taught many people the true science of the demo business. Myself included. The industry is over regulated to the point that “Mom and Pop” are close to being done.”

Given the noise, dust and disruption that blasting can cause, do you foresee a time when it is no longer considered a viable demolition method?
“The noise only happens for a short period. Conventional demo is much more disruptive than implosions. As long as people keep getting hurt in conventional demo and the buildings don’t shrink…I’ll be busy for many years to come. What I do see is there is such a difficulty starting new implosion companies, if you don’t work for one of the major players, slim chance of success! We live in such a litigious society, unless you have a good resume, most companies won’t use you.”

If you were made Secretary of Demolition tomorrow, what would be your first change to the current US demolition business?
“I would stress the discipline, ethics and morality needed to change the image of our industry. The industry is surrounded by liars and thieves. That’s right!!! I said it and you can quote it. Of course, there are some very honorable contractors out there. They’re the ones that don’t have to get every job they bid on; the ones that pay their bills on time and refuse to let lawyers run their company.
Overall, the industry took a change in the early 80’s when certain contractors offered to pay the owner for jobs they should have been paid for. The result was a catastrophic scandal that hurt the industry to this day. I have a wealth of experience seeing our industry go from hard working people to gamblers.
The bad mouthing in the demolition business is past pathetic. The truly sad thing is, society is acclimated to this business practice.”

Husqvarna video shows Bluetooth-enabled remote controlled robot in action.

It is true that we try not to focus too much on equipment here on demolitionews.com. But there are times when, frankly, the temptation is just too great.

Case in point is a new video from demolition robot specialist Husqvarna that shows the company’s new Bluetooth-enable DXR310 machine in action. You can read more about the machine here, but we strongly suggest that you just sit back and enjoy the video:

Free question and answer sessions to address latest asbestos issues.

The team at Spectra Analysis has announced the opening of a new extension to their offices in Basldon. This has created a dedicated room to provide training and conference facilities specifically designed to meet the needs of its clients. As an introductory offer the company is arranging a series of informal, FREE Asbestos-focused question and answers sessions. These sessions are planned to be about one hour long and are free to attend.

The first session will be held at 9am on the 4th June with further sessions following on the first Friday of every month in July, August and September.

Spectra Analysis advise that places are extremely limited and will be issued on a first come, first served basis. Demolition News readers are, therefore, advised to contact Angela Chouaib on 07825 369 381 to book your space today.

UK demolition contractor to reveal plans for former oil rig construction site.

The demolition company interested in taking over the former Nigg oil yard in Easter Ross will unveil its blueprint for the future of the site later. Midlands-based DSM Demolition wants to use the facility to decommission redundant offshore oil structures.

Nigg was used for the construction of oil and gas platforms, but is now largely mothballed. A US company which owns most of the site had planned to redevelop the yard and build offshore wind turbines. However, Highland Council said earlier this month that KBR had withdrawn the proposal.

Last summer, DSM said the massive yard offered an ideal site for the breaking up of redundant ships and oil rigs. Spokesman Mark Cummings said at the time that Nigg was unique to the UK because of its size, deep water access, dry docks and large sheds.

Read more here.

Elderly woman distraught after most of her house is mistakenly torn down.

Associated Press: A Texas woman is trying to figure out what to do after a demolition crew wrongly tore down most of her house, instead of one across the street.

Francis Howard told the Denton Record-Chronicle that “I don’t have the words to say” about what happened to her family’s longtime home.

The 69-year-old woman, who lives with her son in Frisco, said Monday that the family had resided in the Denton home for 47 years.

Much of the house was demolished April 21.

City records show the house that was supposed to be demolished was ordered in January to be repaired or torn down, due to unkept lawns, outside storage, junked vehicles and failure to secure the structure.

The landlord of the property that was to have been demolished declined comment.

Six companies contend for contract to turn auto assembly plant into research facility.

Six firms have been selected as finalists to take on the monumental task of transforming Newark’s former auto assembly plant into a research and technology facility at the University of Delaware.

1743 Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of UD, chose the six general contractors from a list of 70 for consideration to oversee the work that will eventually lead to demolishing the numerous buildings at the site to make use of the 3.4 million square feet of business space. The work also includes abatement of materials containing asbestos, and recycling and disposal of all building materials.

The six firms selected to participate in the Request for Proposal phase are: Brandenburg Industrial Service Company; CST Environmental, LP; Envirocon, Inc.; North American Dismantling Corp.; URS Corporation and WRSCompass.

“Through an extensive process we narrowed the field down to those firms that are most qualified to undertake the proposed work,” Vic Costa, 1743 Holdings, LLC Executive Director, said.

All six general contractors selected to participate in the RFP process will be participating in the Delaware Opportunity Expo which will give local contractors, consultants and vendors an opportunity to meet with each of then,” Jennifer (J.J.) Davis, UD Vice President for Administration, said.

Read more here.

Your last chance to read Construction Equipment’s Demolition Digest.

On 30 April, after 60 illustrious years, the US magazine Construction Equipment will officially close its doors and with it the Construction Equipment website.

We have expressed our sadness and disappointment at this ludicrous turn of events previously, so we do not intend to go over old ground. Instead, we’d just like to wave the magazine and the website a very fond farewell and to encourage our readers to catch the Demolition Digest section – with which we have been associated for the past year – just one last time.

We wish all the editors, reporters, sales team and backroom staff every success in finding new employment, and hope they’ll be back in the industry they made their own very soon.

New York demolition and asbestos abatement sectors “have a rich history of corruption”.

A safety inspector licensed to make critical assessments of asbestos and lead risks in buildings and at construction sites across New York city made a stunning admission in federal court: Despite filing hundreds of reports saying his tests had found no danger, Saverio F. Todaro, 68, had not performed a single one of the tests.

His admissions late last month have raised troubling questions about whether such conduct might be more widespread, and it has led to an expanding inquiry focused on some aspects of the work of asbestos and lead inspectors in the city. “Todaro’s guilty plea is not the end of the story,” said the Manhattan United States attorney, Preet Bharara. “This investigation is very much ongoing.”

The investigation, in part, seeks to determine whether he conspired with others — taking bribes to fashion crude forgeries and mask his failure to conduct any tests — or whether he acted alone for other reasons, officials said.

The breadth of his crimes, the simplicity of the schemes and the apparent ease with which he got away with them over the years also suggest that the city’s oversight is strained, at best.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” said one official briefed on the matter and on the issues facing city and federal regulators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is continuing. “We just don’t know how big the iceberg is.”

Because Mr. Todaro never did the tests in question, and because in more than a dozen instances the buildings involved have been torn down and replaced with new ones, or gutted and renovated, it is impossible in some cases to determine if proper tests would have revealed potentially dangerous levels of lead or asbestos.

In addition to the continuing investigation that grew out of the charges against Mr. Todaro, there are now six other unrelated federal cases under way exploring allegations of similar practices in the New York City area. Some 1,500 people hold city or federal certifications to test for lead or asbestos in the area.

One line of inquiry for investigators in the case involving Mr. Todaro is whether any building owners, management firms or contractors for whom he or other inspectors worked paid bribes for the bogus inspection reports. Officials say substantial sums of money could have been saved by allowing the demolition of buildings without performing expensive asbestos abatement.

Indeed, several current and former law enforcement officials and industry experts underscored that the city’s construction industry, and in particular the demolition and asbestos abatement sectors, have a rich history of corruption.

Read the full story here.

Michigan Department of Transportation releases time-lapse video of bridge demolition.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has released a new video that shifts bridge demolition on I-94 into hyper-speed.

The following video comprises more than 400 still photos collated to show time-lapsed video of its work.

Having canceled this year’s exhibition, can SED ever come back?

From an exhibitor’s point of view, SED was the perfect construction equipment exhibition. It was supported by a pair of popular and widely-read trade magazines (Contract Journal and PMJ), was extensively (and expensively) promoted on and offline, and provided a unique opportunity to show machines doing what they do best – move dirt.

But all of that is in the past. Neither of those magazines exist any longer, so the usual previews to attract and the reviews to remind visitors what’s on display have gone the way of the Dodo. Without an offline magazine presence, there can be little question that the promotion will have been impacted. And let’s face it, how many of the machine operators and fleet owners that made up the lion’s share of the exhibition’s attendees are spending their every waking hour on the Internet?

And what of the exhibitors? In years gone by, the exhibition largely sold itself – Names like Caterpillar, Komatsu, JCB, Volvo and Case clamored to be part of what was billed as the “biggest show in Earth”. And the attraction of these industry-leading names allowed smaller, less well-known manufacturers and dealers to benefit from the crumbs that fell from the table of the majors.

Not surprisingly (and somewhat belatedly), the organisers of SED followed of the previously postponed Hillhead quarry exhibition put this year’s show on ice. But can it really bounce back?

Admittedly, the next show is still a year off but a browse through the exhibitors signed up shows a dearth of big names. Indeed, the only company on the list that would be considered a premier league OEM is Hyundai, and even they are more Bolton Wanderers than Manchester United. The rest of the list currently comprises a variety of lesser suppliers and manufacturers of clothing, cab seating and security equipment; all fine in their place but hardly the backbone of a construction equipment show or a reason to trek halfway across the country.

I come not to bury SED but to praise it. I am a career-long fan of the show. I haven’t missed a single SED in the past 25 years. In fact, much to my wife’s annoyance (then and now), I left her with newborn twins and 10 newborn Boxer puppies to attend SED ’93, such was the draw of the show.

But I am not alone in fearing that the demise of Contract Journal and Plant Managers Journal, the downturn in the UK construction industry, and an enforced 12-month hiatus might prove to be the perfect storm that washes the once great SED away for good.