UK contractor expresses anger as agreed contract is sent for re-tender.

Brown & Mason has reacted angrily as the contract it had won to demolish the former Westcliffe Hospital in Staffordshire is to be re-tendered following an ongoing internal investigation into how council contracts are awarded.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council officers are recommending the authority asks for new bids after it emerged lower tenders were overlooked.

The report to the cabinet recommends that the deal to flatten Westcliffe is retendered after a quote of just over £309,000 was dismissed. London-based contractor Brown & Mason had been identified as the preferred bidder out of seven short-listed firms, despite quoting a price of £1.1 million, which was three times higher than that of a rival.

But Terry Brown, managing director of Brown and Mason, said his firm would not reapply.

He said: “We won’t be bidding again. How can we? We have spent a lot of time pricing up the job and now everybody in the country knows our price. I was assured on the phone dozens of times that the work was ours. We started working on it last Christmas – I have wasted a year on this job. The council should stick to their own rules.”

Read more here.

One man’s trash is another man’s masterpiece, according to Lawrence Straughn.

“Somebody threw it away. I’m gonna make it into something,” he said. “I’m recycling.”

Read more here.

Irving City council sets up implosion watch webcam at Texas Stadium.

Its implosion is still a few weeks away but fans of the iconic Texas Stadium can catch a final glimpse online following Irving City council’s installation of an “implosion watch” webcam.

Admittedly, there’s very little going on there right now – In fact, when we last looked, the stadium was shrouded in darkness with just a few cars driving by. But it will certainly be worthy of a visit on implosion day.

Click here to check out the live webcam.

“I just climbed it; it must be safe” says Australian sit-in protestor.

A sit-in has begun atop the 47 metre high heritage-listed Jimna fire tower in an effort to stop the Government demolishing the landmark structure.

Jimna Fire Tower Action Group spokesman Dave Wright climbed the tower – between Nanango and Maroochydore – on Monday and said he would stay there as long as it took for the Government to promise to save the structure.

The Primary Industries forestry department sought to demolish the tower in 2006 to save on costs.
After protests from Mr Wright’s group, the department proposed the following year to do repairs before handing the tower to the Kilcoy Shire Council. It rejected the offer because of concerns about upkeep.

Mr Wright said he hoped his sit-in would prove as untrue as the Government’s claim the tower was unsafe.

“This is a total fabrication. I’ve just climbed it and it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll stay up here as long as it takes … the Government to acknowledge its heritage obligations.”

Read more here.

CDI claims world record for Leaning Tower implosion. But do the maths stack up?

The demolition industry is blessed with more than its fair share of giant egos and it seems that rarely a month goes by when someone isn’t claiming their latest contract is the biggest, tallest, widest or loudest on record.

So when we saw news reports claiming that the implosion of the South Padre Island’s “leaning Tower” this past weekend claiming that it had set a new world record for the tallest reinforced concrete structure ever imploded, we were willing to just let it slide and leave the people at Guinness to do the math. However, when we we looking ahead to the forthcoming implosion of the 1515 building in West Palm Beach, something just didn’t stack up.

Before CDI pressed the button, the Leaning Tower stood 31 storeys tall and apparently measured 378 feet (115.21 metres). Meanwhile, the soon-to-be-shot 1515 condo building in West Palm Beach stands at 30 storeys and yet measures just 312.28 feet (95.18 metres).

So the South Padre tower was one storey and a full 66 feet taller than the 1515 condo? Really? Even though it had been sinking from the time it was built?

I realise that storeys vary in height and it’s just possible that these figures are totally legitimate.

But with world records and, more importantly, giant egos at stake, are we all absolutely certain that all demolition companies are using the same units of measurement?

New video preview of National Geographic Demolition Dynasty TV series.

We can’t find a version of this with an English language voice-over, but the footage, featuring CDI among others, is no less impressive.

Gateshead’s iconic “Get Carter” car park to remain standing….for now.

“You’re a big man but you’re in bad shape. With me, it’s a full time job. Now behave yourself.” Those immortal lines were spoken by Michael Caine’s Jack Carter character in the original 1971 movie “Get Carter” shortly before throwing that same big man over the edge of a multi-storey car park in the centre of Gateshead.

Nearly forty years later, that car park stands largely alone as the 1960s Trinity Square Shopping Centre of which it was a part is slowly demolished to make way for a new Tesco superstore. And it looks as though that iconic car park may stand for some time to come, or at least until Tesco’s plans for the town centre are satisfactory, council bosses have said.

Demolition of the surrounding development started about a year ago; and Tesco says it is making good progress on the plans, which currently include a new supermarket, bars and restaurants.

Negotiations between Gateshead Council and the firm have been going on since the Trinity Square revamp was announced in 2007. However, questions have been raised about the length of time it is taking for demolition to begin at the car park.

Read more here.

Condominium owner faces $1,000/day fine if demolition runs late.

Implode 1515 S. Flagler by 28 February or face a $1,000 per day fine. That’s what the West Palm Beach city commission decided tonight after Trinity Development Group LLC asked for another extension in taking down the 30-story, hurricane ravished eyesore that’s been vacant for five years.

Neighbors pleaded with the city to not grant Trinity an extension through May 30. In the end, the sides compromised. Trinity will have until May 30 to complete the entire project, which includes debris cleanup, but must implode the building by February 28. Otherwise, the fines will kick in.

Read more here.

Nebraska hotel comes down thanks to one big push?

A passer-by captured this video footage of a hotel frontage coming down in the amusingly-named Wahoo, Nebraska. But what brought the wall down? Was it an invisible excavator; a silent implosion; or was it, as this video seems to suggest, a big shove from a particularly strong operative?

You decide:

Demolition of Riverfront State Prison in Camden is to begin Wednesday.

City officials said this morning the 24-year-old Riverfront State Prison in North Camden would face the wrecking ball in two days.

The prison officially was shuttered in June after the few remaining inmates were transferred elsewhere. The $40 million facility was once home to more than 1,000 inmates between its 400 cells and three dormitory trailers.

Read more here.