Landmark dome at Douneray nuclear power station likely to be demolished.

Some had suggested it be turned in to a museum, a hotel or even a nightclub. Others had wanted its unmistakable outline to remain against the Caithness skyline as a monument to an age when the area pioneered the search for cheap power. However, the likelihood now seems that the landmark dome at Dounreay will be demolished.

It is 32 years since the reactor it housed last produced power, and 55 years since construction of Dounreay began. Now the body involved in the restoration of the vast site has identified removal as a key option.

Retaining the dome was always going to be expensive. It will cost several million pounds to decontaminate and maintenance costs would be in the region of £100,000 a year plus an additional £500,000 every ten years for painting, so its removal will be seen by many as the only realistic outcome.

Read the full story here.

Musician pens tribute to the just-imploded Owensboro hotel.

Long-term Demolition News readers may recall that back in June, in conjunction with C&D Consultancy’s John Woodward, we attempted to compile a list of music to conduct demolition to.

Well US country musician Heath Eric has now gone one stage further, writing a song to commemorate the demolition of the Executive Inn in Owensboro. You can hear the song, and relive the final moments of the hotel by clicking here.

Personally, we’d have thought that Elton John’s “I’m still standing” might have been more appropriate; but we’d welcome any alternative suggestions you might have. Please just use the Comments tab below.

Kocurek machine is new cinema star for GBM.

Work by GBM Demolition to pull down the Doncaster Odeon began today using a new piece of Kocurek ultra-high reach telescopic demolition equipment, said to be one of only three in the UK.

GBM Demolition has invested £200,000 in the new state-of-the-art equipment which has been bought in specially to aid the external demolition of the 22 metre Art Deco building, owned by Lazarus Properties.

The ultra-high 34 metre reach telescopic demolition accessory incorporating quick-change two position modular boom joint and base machine demolition conversion has been attached to a modified Volvo EC700BLC Standard Demolition excavator.

It is the first time worldwide that such a rig has carried the heavy duty 3,500 kg tool option at a pin height of 34 metres.

“We’re delighted to have this new equipment and are eager to see the full extent of its capabilities at first hand at our Doncaster demolition site,” says director Simon Grantham.

The demolition of the Doncaster Odeon site is expected to be complete by Christmas. Planning permission has been granted to turn the site into a £10 million development including a casino, gym, shops and office. Work on this project will begin in the New Year.

Work on blighted Bowstring Bridge halted by female protestor.

Work to demolish a derelict Victorian bridge in Leicester city centre has been halted by a protester who has chained herself to the railings.

All work was stopped when the woman climbed up Bowstring Bridge in the city’s West End at about 0600 GMT.

Campaigners fought to save the bridge and applied for it to have listed status but English Heritage said the structure did not meet the criteria.

Read the full story here.

Superb photography captures overnight bridge demolition in South Africa.

Sadly, we’re unable to embed the entire photo slideshow from which the following image is “borrowed”. But please click here to see some great photos of South Africa’s Allandale Bridge being demolished.

Today’s demolition of the Point Marion Bridge has been postponed for safety reasons.

The structure — known as the Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge — carries Route 88 across the Monongahela River between Fayette and Greene counties.

“The crew was double-checking, going over everything this weekend,” said Valerie Petersen, a PennDOT spokeswoman. “They wanted to err on the side of safety and decided to move some of the extra weight off the deck before the implosion.”

November 16 has been tentatively set as the new date for the demolition, dependent on the weather and other factors.

Further details here.

Executive Inn comes down….well, almost.

Demolition News has been critical of the handling of the demolition of the Executive Inn in Owensboro almost from the outset. So, having stated our feelings, here at last is the high definition footage of what actually happened when the dust settled and the TV executives stood aside. We would merely ask you to listen out for the comment from the guy shooting the footage at 1 minute 24 seconds of the video, below:

Around 7,000 local people watched as Owensboro’s Executive Inn finally came down.

As planned, the Owensboro Executive Inn Rivermont met its demise shortly after 9:00 am local time. That’s when crews assisted by the mayor pushed the buttons to trigger explosives planted in the building earlier in the week.

Within a matter of seconds the familiar part of the skyline was reduced from seven to just a couple floors of rubble, the elevator tower putting up a fight at the end.

While we’re waiting for a video in an embeddable format, you can check out the raw footage here.

Robinson & Birdsell have carried out the successful implosion of a Lancashire chimney.

UK explosive demolition experts Robinson & Birdsell have carries out a successful implosion at the Thornton Power Station near Blackpool. Further details will follow but, in the meantime, here’s a pair of videos:

No negative health effects from demolition of three smelter stacks.

Air sampling tests show that the demolition of three smelter stacks at the ASARCO smelter in East Helena in August did not produce negative health effects, the state Department of Environmental Quality said Friday.

“The data confirms that this demolition was carried out safely and successfully,” DEQ Director Richard Opper said.

The DEQ also concluded that the stack demolition’s impacts on air quality did not violate the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which are designed to protect public health.

As part of the ongoing federal Environmental Protection Agency-directed cleanup of the smelter in East Helena, ASARCO demolished three industrial stacks at its East Helena facility Aug. 14. Because of concerns about the possible health impacts of dust, the DEQ captured an air quality sample in the vicinity of the site during and immediately following the demolition event.

Further details here.