Dore & Associates launches legal bid for compensation.

Dore & Associates of Bay City, Michigan is seeking $1.7 million in damages for losses stemming from its work in tearing down Ogg Hall, a campus fixture that had housed generations of students. The state caused expensive delays in its work and then unfairly fired Dore from the job, the company contends.

The state Department of Administration says, however, that it fired Dore & Associates in March 2008 after a series of contract violations and safety problems and that it doesn’t owe the company a dime.

The State Claims Board on Wednesday is expected to consider denying the company damages. If it does, Dore & Associates would likely file a lawsuit seeking them, chief executive officer Arthur Dore said.

The state hired the firm to demolish Ogg’s two towers but the project faced a series of problems.

First, some construction materials caught fire at the top of one of the towers in December 2007 while five of the company’s workers were inside. The workers were not able to get down the stairs, so they climbed down scaffolding set up outside the building to safety.

The final straw came on March 18, 2008, when a large block of concrete fell from one of the towers and crushed a worker’s parked vehicle below. The state terminated Dore’s contract the next day.

Read the full story here.

Demolition stunt goes horribly wrong for Finnish version of Jackass.

Just how bored do you have to be to think that being stood on top of an imploding building is a good idea? Well, judging by this video, there must be some very high levels of boredom in Finland as what appears to be the Finnish take on the Jackass TV programme goes horribly and painfully wrong.

Warning, this video contains graphic scenes of surgery that are not for the squeamish!!

Rogue demolition contractor ordered to pay back more than £176,000 in illegal profits.

William Reidy was sentenced to a 16-month prison sentence in 2007 for dumping waste, including asbestos. Now he must sell land and houses to repay the money he made breaking the law to boost profits for his firm Space Making Developments.

Bradford Crown Court today gave Reidy six months to find the cash or go to jail for 27 months. The Crown and Reidy’s defence team agreed he benefited by more than £1.7 million from his activities.

Read more here.

Early morning blowdown drops three Scottish tower blocks.

One of Scotland’s biggest ever explosive demolitions went with a bang in the early hours of Sunday morning as Glasgow Housing Association flats in Sighthill were reduced to rubble in only 15 seconds. The six blocks at 2-4 Fountainwell Terrace, 6-8 Fountainwell Square and 37-49 Fountainwell Avenue were razed in a controlled early-morning blow down in the north of the city.

The 19-storey blocks had housed 684 flats in total and were a popular landmark when they were built back in 1969. The properties were recommended for demolition following a decline in demand and popularity of the blocks, high investment and running costs and the ongoing regeneration plans for the area.

Craig Wilson, of Technical Demolition Services, said: “We are extremely happy to be involved in what has been yet another successful demolition operation working in close partnership with Glasgow Housing Association. Our aim on this project has always been to ensure that the demolition process took place as efficiently as possible with safety being the key driver and this has been achieved through hard work and excellent planning.”

An Ohio demolition worker has been fatally electrocuted at site in Carthage, Indiana.

Authorities say an Ohio man was fatally shocked when the semitrailer he was driving touched power lines at a central Indiana demolition site.

Rush County Coroner Ann Moster said Friday that 48-year-old Gary D. Colvin of Eaton, Ohio, was pronounced dead shortly after Wednesday afternoon’s accident at the former Carthage Mill.

Read more here.

Real or staged, this video of a wrecking ball hitting a passing car is certainly dramatic.

Video shows in close-up how explosive charges slice through legs of tower.

On Wednesday this week, Mayrland-based Controlled Demolition, Inc. performed the successful explosives felling of the 95 metre tall, structural steel Solar Two Facility Central Receiving Tower in Daggett, California. The second phase of this video captures how the explosive charges cut through the steel legs of the tower, bringing down the entire structure.

Video captures the demise of a gantry crane on the banks of the Delaware River.

The large gantry crane sweeps slowly along the rails that run parallel to Philadelphia’s mighty Delaware River in the same way that it has done hundreds if not thousands of times. But what’s this? The entire steel structure comes crashing down in what is claimed to be a planned demolition but what looks worryingly like some mechanical form of suicide leap.

Crane demolition or crane suicide….you decide:

ACE Plant has introduced the new Dust Fighter dust suppression system.

A new generation of equipment from dust suppression specialist, ACE Plant, offers greater versatility and overall efficiency than traditional methods – and it’s more economical, too.

Based on a powerful 3-phase electric fan with hose water feed to produce a fog like mist, Dust Fighter has a range of up to 60m in windless conditions, and is available in four sizes and two versions: a plug-in electric model mounted on a 3–wheeled trolley, or fully self-contained with on-board generator mounted on a rugged 4-wheeled chassis and integral 2000 litre stainless steel water reservoir.

ACE Plant is taking the concept even further and is working on the design of a hydraulically driven model that can be mounted on any of its standard mobile dust suppression tankers and which will have the capability of carrying enough water for a whole day’s operation.

All models are fitted with a water filter and have full 360º manual swivel allowing accurate all round targeting. Options include remote control for water ‘on’ and ‘off’, while oscillation and raise / lower functions are available in either automatic or remote control mode.

Dust Fighter is available for sale only through ACE Plant, with machines also available for hire (in England and Wales).

“Dust Fighter is a genuine problem solver when it comes to tackling high level airborne dust,” says ACE Plant managing director Frank Cundell. “It fits perfectly into our established range of mobile dust suppression tankers which can be equipped with raingun, basic spray bar or our top selling hydraulic spinning disc water applicator.”

Michigan demolition contractors to face tougher rules.

The Michigan city of Buchanan has adopted an ordinance to govern future building demolition to coincide with its more aggressive stand toward dilapidated structures.

The Buchanan City Commissioners at their meeting this week voted unanimously in favor of the policy and fee for a demolition permit. Under the new policy, the permit requires the removal of both the building and foundation or slab. The site must also be restored with clean fill and graded. And, within the next 30 days, the property once filled and graded must be seeded with grass.

Read more here.