Canadian town of Asbestos seeks to attract tourists.

Our good friends over at Spectra Analysis alerted us to this story from the weekend’s Guardian newspaper here in the UK about a Canadian mining town that is hoping to attract tourists to a significant local landmark…and asbestos mine.

Asbestos (population 5,000) is the spiritual home of a substance banned across most of the western world. Recently it has come under fire for exporting the cancer-causing mineral to developing countries, such as India and China.

The town believes its eponymous export has been unfairly demonised. It may have a major public relations problem, but isn’t going to let this get in the way of its plans to offer healthy living and adventure activities to tourists.

Alain Roy, a local councillor, describes global medical consensus on asbestos health risks as “de la bullshit”. The townsfolk are proud of their heritage, he says. “We would be happy to welcome tourists to tell them the truth about who we are.”

At 2 km wide, the Jeffrey mine is almost as big as the surrounding town – a vast, graduated lunar landscape that developers plan to turn into an adventure-lovers’ paradise, with tracks designed for all-terrain vehicles and bicycles. The project has already been road-tested. Rock climbing may be a possibility.

“It’s like a great big sand pit, a gigantic playground!” says Marc Cantin, a coordinator at the local tourist board.

You can read the full story here or perhaps you’d prefer to suggest towns or cities with which Asbestos might be twinned using the Comments tab below.

We’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win a new AEM safety manual.

Our good friends at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ AEM Store have just updated its Hydraulic Excavator Safety Manual. Updates include:

* Machine illustrations updated to represent current machine designs.
* Safety alert messages, use of the “Safety Alert symbol” and use of “Signal Words” revised to conform to ANSI Z535.6:2006.
* Information on use of One-Call services and the USA national 811 number included.
* The safe mounting and dismounting practice discussion expanded and presented in the new format.
* Material on attachment installation and the safe installation, use and maintenance of quick-couplers included.
* A new section discussing trenching safety included.
* Additional material on utility locating practices incorporated.
* Use of newer safety design features, such as gate or armrest based hydraulic control locks, incorporated.

To celebrate the launch of this excellent new publication, Demolition News and AEM Store is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of their very own by answering one very simple question:

The previous version of the Hydraulic Excavator Safety Manual was 48 pages in length. But how long is the new, upgraded version?

To enter, please email your answer together with your full postal address to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the winning entries received. The competition closes on Sunday 16 May 2010.

Calls for investigation over measly demolition death fines.

The Hawaii Laborers’ Union has asked for a state legislative investigation into the death of a worker in the collapse of a Hawaiian Cement tower at Campbell Industrial Park.

Al Lardizabal, government relations director for AFL-CIO Local 368, said yesterday that the “measly” fines imposed on each of two contractors for separate violations are “utterly laughable.”

State Department of Labor Director Darwin Ching imposed a fine of $750 on Nov. 13 on co-contractor AG Transport for failing to have a written engineering survey. General contractor San Construction LLC of Hawaii, which also received a $750 fine, was cited as the co-contractor for failing to do its prime contractor responsibility in ensuring compliance with Hawaii industrial safety standards.

On the morning of May 16, AG Transport employee Juan Navarro, 54, of South El Monte, California died after the (51 metre) 168-foot tower collapsed on him during preparation for the tower’s demolition.

A supervisor told labor investigators he and Navarro were making cuts in the legs of the pre-heater tower when they heard a pop and ran out. The supervisor said Navarro re-entered the tower base area, and it collapsed.

Read more here.

Asbestos penalty makes mockery of recent worker death fine.

You might recall that we reported last week on the $750 fine imposed on a demolition company implicated in the death of one of its employees. At the time, we said that such a minimal penalty was tantamount to categorizing demolition workers as expendable.

Fast-forward a week and we have a story about a $1.2 million fine imposed by a Baltimore court on a demolition company found guilty of of contravening asbestos regulations in which precisely nobody (thankfully) died.

Now I realise that US states have their own individual legislature and that there’s also another layer of federal law to contend with.

But if someone can explain why a company can be fined $750 for killing a worker while another can be fined $1.2 million for not killing anyone, I’d love to hear the explanation.

With many US demolition contractors now forced to travel out-of-state to find work in these recessionary times, surely a little legal consistency is not too much to ask….is it?

Photo captures Italian specialists on small-scale German contract.

Take a good look at this photo; all looks to be in order right? A pair of high reaches working in perfect unison; support equipment where it should be; exclusion zone and perimeter protection in place.

Now look a little bit closer. There’s remarkably little dust, right? And everything looks a little static.

Well, it’s for good reason. Mark Bryan, managing director of UK demolition contractor J. Bryan (Victoria) Ltd sent us the uncropped photo after his recent visit to the Bauma exhibition in Munich, Germany. But this is not, actually, a demolition contractor.

As the full-size photo (below) shows, this is, in fact, an expertly-crafted exhibition stand hosted by Italian attachment manufacturer Trevi Benne.

Thanks for the photo Mark. And if anyone else has any good model or miniature photos they’d like to share, please send them to us at manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk

Officials say cutting torches caused blaze at old grain silo

Fire officials think crews using cutting torches to demolish the old grain silos off South Daniel Morgan Avenue caused a fire that later engulfed part of the structure.

Just before 4 a.m. Friday, firefighters with the city of Spartanburg responded to the former Spartan Grain Mill, adjacent to Snyder Electric. The upper section of a multi-silo unit, known as the “penthouse,” was engulfed in flames, according to a written statement from City Fire Marshal Mike Julazadeh.

The affected area was roughly 15 metres (50 feet) by 24 metres (80 feet) in size and located about 30 metres (100 feet) above ground. Because of the location of the blaze, firefighters used two ladder trucks to douse the area with water.

Read more here.

Geraldton Earthmoving Contracts to plead not guilty.

A demolition company accused of dumping rubble containing asbestos near Geraldton Grammar School has indicated it will plead not guilty to the charges brought against it.

The City of Geraldton-Greenough last month launched a prosecution against Softail Proprietary Limited, which trades under the name of Geraldton Earthmoving Contractors.

In the local magistrates court yesterday, lawyers for the company told the court a not guilty plea was likely to be entered but that could change after the evidence had been further assessed.

Read more here.

Texas Stadium re-imagined in a truly cheesy TV advertisement.

The implosion of the Texas Stadium in Irving is long since over; the dust has long since settled. The cheese, however, continues to fall thanks to a new TV ad produced by food manufacturer and Texas Stadium implosion sponsor, Kraft Foods.

I am still struggling to see the connection between stadium blow downs and macaroni cheese and I would have thought that the director of this ad might’ve helped the central star tie his neck-tie properly. But I have to admit that I was impressed by this overblown, cheesy ad.

China remains gripped by demolition fever. But what is the human cost?

In recent months, we have covered numerous, deeply worrying stories involving demolition in China including several suicides by protestors attempting to prevent the demolition of their own homes and, more recently, the apparently unlawful killing of another protestor who dared to stand inthe way of “progress”.

With China now ranking as the world’s fastest-growing economy, many of its residents now expect the trappings that their nation’s new-found wealth should bring: improved housing; better roads; enhanced infrastructure. To meet this demand, the Chinese government is forging ahead with a widespread construction programme to rid the country of its narrow streets and the tiny houses that are common throughout the “old China”, replacing them with new, Western-style roads and apartment buildings.

But this “destruction and construction at any cost” approach has a human cost, as this excellent article and photo series demonstrates.

“…The residents of these old houses are given money, but often it’s not enough. The only affordable housing to be found after a forced move like this is often well outside the city and far from any jobs or shops. Their old houses may not have had running water or electricity, so the opportunity to move offers a step up the urban ladder in some respects. But as with any relocation, adjusting to a new neighborhood creates many headaches, especially if the money promised for the old houses never arrives. China’s economy continues to hum along, of course, and the demolition continues regardless of whether or not any of the new construction ventures will ever be completed….”

It makes worrying reading and is well worth a visit, here.

Locals express outrage over demolition of historic Amman Valley building.

The Old Pontaman Water Mill, believed to date back more than 200 years, has been razed to the ground. ts demise is a major blow for the Amman Valley Railway Society, which had hoped to regenerate the site as part of its objective to develop the Amman Valley railway for passenger services.

“My reaction is one of shock, horror and consternation,” chief executive Mike Smith told the South Wales Guardian. “The old mill could have been made into a focal point for the community – especially with a rail/bus stop opposite.”

Community leader Kevin Madge also felt the historic building should have been preserved. “What’s happened is outrageous – the old mill is something that has been there for generations,” he said. “We don’t have many historic buildings in the valley, so we should protect the ones we have left because they are part of our heritage.”

Read the full story here.