Jail sentences handed down to demolition company behind implosion that killed two.

Three directors of the demolition company that destoyed the “Memorial of Glory” in Kutaisi in December have been sentenced to prison today after debris from the botched explosion killed a mother and her eight-year-old daughter as they stood in their courtyard.

The three – Avtandil Darsavelidze, Elguja Gadabadze and Tengiz Darakhvelidze – have been jailed for breaking safety regulations. Central to the state’s case was that the public were not evacuated from a wide enough area.

Read more here.

Against a backdrop of global recession, ship demolition hits a 13-year high.

According to a new report by Clarkson Research Services Limited, ship demolition in 2009 was at its highest level in 13 years as owners scrapped aging vessels to make way for a record number of new ships being built.

It added that scrappers in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and elsewhere bought 1,014 ships with a combined carrying capacity of 31.5 million deadweight tonnes. That’s double the 2008 tally and the most since 1996.

According to the London based Baltic Exchange, charter rates for commodity carriers as measured by the Baltic Dry Index plunged 59% to average 2,617 points in 2009 as the global recession curtailed demand for raw materials. Crude oil tanker costs lost 62%, averaging 581 points.

Read the full story here or visit the Demolition Digest blog for our own personal take on how this impacts upon skilled demolition workers.

Merchants Quay shopping centre slated for demolition.

The former Merchants Quay shopping centre in Gloucester Docks is set to be demolished. Work could begin on the project as early as this week.

The centre will be replaced by a four-and-a-half storey warehouse-style building, containing 48 flats and shopping and leisure facilities on the ground floor.

The former shopping centre closed in 2007, and the building has stood empty ever since. Original plans were turned down 18 months ago, after being dismissed as adding little to the character of the Docks.

General Motors’ Massena plant could fall.

A number of contractors toured the General Motors Powertrain plant in Massena last Wednesday and were asked to prepare estimates for the demolition of the 50-year-old facility, according to several sources.

According to an internal demolition proposal, the entire 83,612 square metre (900,000-square-foot) factory would be razed, an outbuilding torn down and an on-site water tower dismantled.

Officials from Motors Liquidation Corp., which assumed ownership of the facility following GM’s June bankruptcy filing, would neither confirm nor deny that the meeting took place or that the liquidation group has made the decision to raze the plant.

Read more here.

The sudden demolition of a New Zealand smokestack has angered some Patea residents as they had just started a campaign to save it as a memorial to the town’s freezing works history.

Patea’s symbolic smoke stack was knocked down by Nikau Contractors on Friday evening.

But at a public meeting called by residents last week, campaigner Jim Ngarewa was scathing of the council and its “lack of democratic process”.

“This was done in a devious manner and an arrogant manner,” he said. “They were gutless and sneaky. Why couldn’t they wait, even until Monday after we had all had our say?” Mr Ngarewa said.

To read the full story, please click here. To see the chimney fall, please check out the video below:

The demolition of a New Zealand hospital catches patients and visitors unawares.

The concrete walls of Wairau Hospital’s clinical services block came crashing down on Friday, making way for stage three of a major rebuild.

The main entrance was demolished along with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, laboratory, staff library and secretarial and clinical coding areas.

People with appointments in the demolished areas looked confused until directed to a green line leading to the new facilities.

The X-ray area and what was the emergency department is being temporarily left in place as an internal thoroughfare. When the site is clear, work will start on building a new main entrance and sites for oncology, outpatients, maternity, child and youth, and a cafe.

Nelson company CJ Solutions is subcontracted by Hawkins Construction to carry out the demolition.

Read more here.

New video from outgoing European Demolition Association president, Yves Canessa.

OK, I admit that I don’t know what the commentary says, and we’re not entirely sure what this Dijon building was before it was imploded this weekend. But when European Demolition Association president Yves Canessa takes time from his weekend to send you a vide, it would be churlish not to upload it.

Governor responds to asbestos allegations.

Gov. Mark Parkinson labeled as alarming Thursday allegations by former Topeka Correctional Facility inmates and workers of improper disposal of asbestos waste during renovation projects orchestrated by the Kansas Department of Corrections.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is investigating assertions the staff and prisoners were exposed to the cancer-causing material during demolition activities at the facility. EPA stepped in after a complaint was forwarded to federal officials by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

“It does alarm me anytime we have an environmental problem in one of our state buildings, especially asbestos, which is an issue we’ve known about as a society for 30 years,” Parkinson said in an interview at the Statehouse. “That’s why I endorsed the EPA coming in, figuring out what the situation is and, hopefully, developing a plan.”

Former inmates and employees of the East Topeka prison have said they were exposed to thick asbestos-tainted dust when floor tiles were ground to a powder with heavy machinery during projects performed before and after 2005. Some workers said they wore paper face masks, while others said they had no protective gear or specialized training. The staff and prisoners said complaints about working conditions were ignored by KDOC managers.

Read more here.

Mayoral aide indicted for demolition-related corruption.

A former top aide to Newark Mayor Cory Booker was indicted on charges that he helped steer city contracts to a trucking company where he was a part owner.

Ronald Salahuddin, who was Deputy Mayor for Public Safety from 2006 until his resignation last summer, allegedly helped S. Cooper Brothers Trucking win more than $1 million in city demolition, street sweeping and waste collection contracts.

Sonnie L. Cooper, the company president, was also indicted.

Read the full story here.

Bids open but Corpus Christi still pondering full or partial demolition.

A dozen or so people gathered at City Hall Wednesday to watch city staff unseal 14 bids for Memorial Coliseum demolition.

Bids submitted Wednesday estimated the costs between $611,000 and 887,667. A&R Demolition, a company based near Austin, provided the lowest bid at $562,312. The company has previously won contracts from the city.

The ceremonial gathering Wednesday marked the first step toward a June demolition deadline. Staff with the city’s engineering department will review bid information and provide a recommendation to City Council for its meeting on 23 February.

Council will have one of four choices: select a bid for full demolition, select one for partial demolition, table the decision or throw out the bids. A partial demolition of the coliseum is an idea proposed by local architect George Clower. His plan would keep the arched green roof as an open-air pavilion and add a festival park and memorial nearby. He has suggested using the city money set aside for coliseum demolition and Shoreline Boulevard realignment for his plan, but has not yet provided a cost estimate for the entire project.

Read more here.