Historic Scottish slipper baths could face demolition.

A 100-year old building which houses one of the last intact slipper bath complexes in the UK could be demolished if plans are given the go ahead.

Clydebank’s town centre is set to benefit from a £3.3million investment which will see the building demolished and turned into an arts venue as part of the proposals.

The bath houses were designed to accommodate the health and hygiene needs of thousands of people who had no access to bathing facilities. The still intact slipper baths, massage rooms, laundry foam room and turlish suite have lain unused for more than 20 years but campaigners believe they are a symbol of the past and should be retained.

Read more or view the video here.

Contractor braves the elements to fell Lynchburg bridge.

Neither a foot of snow nor three weeks of below-average temperatures have delayed the contractor who is removing the 24 metre (80-foot) high span, which crosses a dry gorge between two of Lynchburg’s older neighborhoods, Lower Rivermont and Daniel’s Hill.

The major snowfall that hit Lynchburg on Dec. 18-19 “probably slowed them down for about a week, but they’re back on schedule,” Wood said Tuesday.

Read more here.

New video captures Lake Champlain bridge implosion in super slow motion.

Having already been delayed by snow and ice, the recent implosion of the Crown Point bridge was never going to be particularly photogenic. But this new video, kindly sent to us by AED‘s Mark Wilburn, certainly captures the implosion process in high quality, super-slow motion.

The UK’s premier construction equipment industry has bowed to recessionary pressures.

There are times when being proved (belatedly) right simply fails to deliver the satisfaction that it should. And that is the case with the sudden and apparently unexpected postponement of the UK’s SED 2010 exhibition.

Almost 12 months ago in these very pages, I suggested that the organisers of the exhibition were failing to take note of the recession that was gripping the industry, preferring to plough on regardless in order to feather their financial nest. The 2009 show went ahead, although on a far smaller basis and with considerably fewer visitors.

With the recent closure of its construction magazine Contract Journal, Reed Business Information’s decision to postpone this year’s SED should have been clear for all to foresee.

However, at the same time as Contract Journal closed its doors, its sister magazine Plant Managers Journal was given a quick paint-job and renamed SED – The Magazine to run alongside the new SED365 website. So while no-one thought that all in the Reed garden was rosy, there seemed to be a determination to soldier on and run the 2010 show regardless of the continuing bleak economic outlook.

But it’s not to be. It appears that, somewhat belatedly, the organisers have realised that the current recession, coupled with the fact that most manufacturers worth their salt will be committing a large part of their marketing budget to Bauma 2010 and Hillhead 2010, could render the Rockingham show an exhibitor and visitor-less desert.

So after more than a quarter of a century as the UK construction and demolition’s annual equipment supermarket, the SED succession is broken (although, interestingly, at the time of writing, SED‘s own website isn’t reflecting this fact).

Coming just a day after the UK’s Financial Times forecast a bleak outlook for demolition in 2010, this news puts paid to the many “prosperous New Year” wishes we have received in recent days.

Financial Times says 2010 outlook is bleak for UK demolition contractors.

The UK’s demolition industry is preparing for a painful 2010 as inactivity in the commercial property building sector and soaring vacancy rates heap pressure on already weak demand.

According to the UK’s Financial Times, the five largest demolition companies – all of which are privately owned – have seen a fall in revenues over the past 18 months and there is a growing concern among them that a revival in the industry’s fortunes will lag behind any rebound in the wider construction sector.

To read the full story, please click here (you may have to register but it’s free and takes just a few seconds).

Surprise greets impending demolition of profitable airline reservation centre.

Continental closed operations at its 4,273 square metre (46,000 square foot) Tampa Reservation Center facility in September and instead of trying to rent it out again, the Hillsborough Aviation Authority is tearing the building down.

Steve Burton, the newest member of the Aviation Authority Board, says he is surprised the building is being torn down without his knowledge, but he isn’t the only one who is surprised.

Other board members, including Hillsborough County Commissioner Chairman Ken Hagan, weren’t aware until we told them the $4.25 million building, which was bringing in more than $400,000 a year in rent and paying $137,000 a year in property taxes, is about to be destroyed.

US’ National Demolition Association announces 2010 Convention programme.

A career military officer, Christman currently represents the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before foreign business leaders and government officials and provides strategic leadership on international issues affecting the business community. His curriculum vitae includes a five-year appointment as superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point and two years as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during which he advised Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He is a frequent contributor to CNN and appears on ABC, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC and C-SPAN.

The NDA Convention begins on Saturday March 20 with the Annual Golf Tournament at Silverstone Golf Club. On Sunday, registration of delegates begins, followed by the grand opening of the exhibit hall at the Mirage Event Center. The evening ends with the Opening Night Cocktail Reception in the Grand Ballroom.

Following Gen. Christman’s presentation on March 22, the first speaker of the convention, Bob Mellinger of Attanium Corp., will give valuable advice on improving crisis communications and decision-making skills in his talk “The Disaster Experience: QuickFire.” That evening, all delegates are invited to the ’60s-style Beatles “Love” Extravaganza theme party in the Grand Ballroom.

On Tuesday, educational breakout sessions begin with “Survive to Thrive: Making the Transition: Coping with the Downturn and Planning for Recovery,” presented by Greg Hoyle of Hoyle & Associates. Hoyle will provide tips on topics like managing cash flow and marketing. Mike Casbon with EMR Inc. will speak on “Safety and Your Bottom Line,” addressing the subject of how well-planned and executed safety programs can become profit centers. The third session is entitled “Green Marketing and LEED: Is There Money in it for You?” presented by John Lloyd of Lloyd’s Construction Services and Jason Haus of Dem-Con Companies. The program will explain the benefits and pitfalls of establishing a capital-intensive recycling program and developing a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-based marketing plan that really works.

Tuesday evening ends with the Annual Banquet of the National Demolition Association in the Grand Ballroom.

Delegate and exhibitor registration can take place online at www.demolitionassociation.com. Additional information can also be obtained by calling 800-541-2412. The deadline for pre-registration is March 4.

The use of an out-of-state contractor to blow the Crown Point bridge leads to complaints.

The dust has barely settled and hundreds of tonnes of debris still remain in the icy depths of Lake Champlain following the recent implosion of the Crown Point bridge, but already the repercussions have begun.

Edward Malloy, president of the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council, blasted the Paterson administration for hiring an out-of-state demolition company to blow up the Crown Point Bridge.

“Perhaps your commissioner is unaware that there are capable men and women who live and pay taxes right here in New York state who want and need to work on this project,” Malloy wrote in his Dec. 21 letter to Gov. David Paterson and copied to Acting Transportation Commissioner Stanley Gee.

Malloy called the awarding of the blasting work to an Idaho company “unconscionable” considering the high unemployment rate upstate for union laborers.

Read more here.

But the post-blowdown repercussions don’t end there.

Lisa Kelly and her husband, Eric, – the two-person team behind the blowdown – had nothing but kind words for the Vermont officials she dealt with during their Christmas-season bridge job. But the Kellys are scratching their heads about the Empire State’s representatives.

As Kelly tells it, AED had begun laying dynamite when she got a Christmas call saying she needed to immediately come up with a certified check for $13,028 to pay for workers’ compensation insurance.

She said her firm, which has little overhead, doesn’t need the coverage since it’s a husband-and-wife operation. But in New York, Kelly was told, she needed it. “I said I did not have the funds,” she said. As the state pressed, the general contractor that hired AED picked up the cost. A policy was quickly put together by the New York State Insurance Fund with an effective date of Dec. 28, the day AED blew up the bridge.

More here.

18 high rise buildings in Lahore have been earmarked for demolition.

The Pakistan Observer is reporting that Lahore city officials have voted to completely or partially demolish some 18 “illegal” high rise structures in the country’s capital. The newspaper reports that many of these structures were built without planning permission or in a haphazard fashion with little or no consideration for the environment, local community or even parking facilities.

Read the full story here.

Jail demolition bid comes in a third more than expected.

During 2009, we wrote about low bids so often that my computer keyboard now automatically fills in the bid every time I type the word low. But with the dawning of a New Year comes a story that will warm the hearts of industry watchers across the US and beyond.

The low bid to demolish the old jail in the St. Charles Parish Courthouse in Hahnville is about a third more than parish officials expected, but they aren’t ruling out paying more.

Zimmer-Eschette Service II of Metairie submitted the low bid of $311,786 this month to tear out the old cellblocks to make way for new parish office space on the third floor of the courthouse.

“We had gotten a rough estimate of $200,000, but that’s all it was,” parish purchasing director Bobby Donaldson said.

Read more here.