Demolition News has been off-air for a few days; here’s why.

Regular readers may have noticed that things have been a little bit quiet around here over the past few days. Rather than our usual multiple posts each and every day of the week, we’ve added no new content since Tuesday morning. And there’s a reason for it.

Ever since Demolition News opened its doors, the level of traffic has been on a slow, upward path. And on Monday this week, without warning, the weight of traffic caused our servers to have what can be best described as a meltdown. Servers going down at any time is never a good thing but when it is (a) unplanned and (b) takes place during a national holiday, the outcome is nothing short of catastrophic.

However, our technical team have now upgraded us to cope with the increased traffic levels and normal service is being resumed.

$750 fine over death is a travesty of justice; and an insult to the man’s family.

What is the price of a human life? Let’s put that another way. What would you pay to save the life of one of your loved ones: your wife, say, or one of your children? A million? Ten million? A hundred million?

Of course, there is no right answer. The cost of a human life is beyond mere money. Unless, of course, you work for the Hawaiian State Department. In which case, a human life – that of a demolition worker, 54-year old Juan Navarro, killed in the line of duty – is worth $1,500…or $750 each for the two companies cited in his death.

According to a report in the Star Bulletin, California-based AG Transport failed to provide a written engineering survey of the tower, including an emergency evacuation plan, prior to starting demolition. State Department of Labor Director Darwin Ching determined AG Transport’s violation was “serious” and imposed a fine of $750. General contractor Sans Construction LLC of Hawaii was cited as the co-contractor for failing to do its prime contractor responsibility in ensuring compliance with Hawaii industrial safety standards and was fined $750, the state said.

Setting aside what Navarro’s family must be thinking in light of this travesty of justice, what kind of signal does this send to the wider demolition industry, particularly those that walk the fine line between safe and unsafe, legal and illegal.

I’ll tell you what message this sends. It says that demolition workers are disposable; they’re an expendable resource that can be readily replaced.

Why bother spending all that money training your crews? Why throw good money down the drain on workers’ insurance, health benefits and pensions….let’s face it, they’re not going to be around to collect, are they? And shit, while we’re about it, let’s can the budget for hard hats and safety boots. If something lands on a worker’s head, we’ll just hire a new worker.

For all the efforts of the forward-thinking demolition contractors and trade associations around the world, it is precisely this kind of penalty for what is, effectively, corporate manslaughter, that will continue to drag this industry down; to undermine the public perception of our sector; and which will lead, inexorably, to yet more demolition deaths.

Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Navarro.

New computer game captures look of demolition equipment, but not the action.

You’ve spent that 12 hours in the office planning your next contract. Or perhaps you have been on site all day, surrounded by the noise and dust that is the backdrop to demolition works the world over. You just want to relax, kick back…chill.

So why not reach for the ol’ joystick and play at what you do for a living from the comfort of your own armchair?

Demolition Company from Giants Software has certainly captured the realism of the demolition equipment. You can control everything from a hand-held breaker through high reach excavators and even a crane and wrecking ball.

Sadly, judging by the video of the game (below) that’s about where the realism ends. Based upon this footage, no demolition contract in the world would last more than an afternoon as even a gentle nudge with a hand-held breaker sends the concrete tumbling in huge blocks. That said, I guess a game that showed demolition in real-time would lack a certain appeal.

Brown & Mason charged with removing blot from Fife landscape.

Methil power station, long considered a blot on the Scottish landscape, is coming down. Since its closure in 2000, the iconic plant and its majestic chimney tower has dominated the local skyline, but, in the past seven days, work started to bring the structure to its knees.

Scottish Power, which still owns the plant, confirmed on Friday it has issued a contract for the work to demolition, dismantling and asbestos removal firm Brown and Mason. And the company wasted no time in getting on site, with workforce members arriving to start the job almost immediately.

A spokesman for Scottish Power told the Mail: “Brown and Mason have started their work now.

“We expect the steady demolition work to take until the end of 2011 when the land will be handed back over to Forth Ports to do with it as they wish.”

Read more here.

Chicago-based demolition company faces $60,000 fine for safety violations.

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited National Wrecking Co. in Chicago with $60,000 in proposed penalties for alleged willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards.

As a result of a November 2009 inspection, OSHA has issued a willful citation to the company for failing to provide fall protection to employees working 16 feet above ground level. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

OSHA also has issued the company one serious citation for failing to protect workers exposed to struck by and caught in between hazards while working in a hydraulic excavator. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

“These types of violations show the company’s disregard for the safety and welfare of its workers,” said OSHA Area Director Gary Anderson, in Calumet City, Ill. “Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”

Read the full story here.

Rock Hill officials vote to demolish fire-damaged Bleachery complex

In a 6-to-1 vote Thursday morning at City Hall, Rock Hill leaders agreed to commit $5 million in public money to demolish most of the Bleachery complex. The city also declared an intent to buy the property once it has been cleaned up.

The demolition, which is expected to start this summer and last for six months, will be handled by Will Simmons, owner of Action Demolition in Clover. Simmons was a partner at the site with Rock Hill developer Lynn Stephenson, who died last fall.

“With the passing of Lynn Stephenson, our vision was lost — and our force,” Simmons said. “I’m a demolition expert and a scrap metal trader. I am not a builder.”

The public health hazards posed by the Bleachery were put on display last summer when a pair of intentionally set fires sent smoke billowing into area neighborhoods. City leaders said they were left with few choices.

City officials have held a series of closed-door sessions to hammer out a demolition, abatement and purchase agreement with lead Bleachery Simmons.

The agreement culminates years of negotiations over when and how Rock Hill would commit public money toward cleaning up the property. Demolition is expected to cost between $6 million and $8 million.

Read the full story here.

Video captures implosion in extreme close-up.

The Coast Guard’s Civil Engineering Unit from Juneau and Controlled Demolition, Inc., brought down Alaska’s tallest structure at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Port Clarence using controlled explosives.

At 411 metres, the Long Range Aids to Navigation tower at the Coast Guard LORAN Station was the tallest of its kind in the country but the condition of the tower was deteriorating and with no funding for repairs the tower was at ever-increasing risk of an uncontrolled collapse.

US’ National Demolition Association unveils new reference resource.

Created in partnership with the National Demolition Association, “Demolition: Practices, Technology, and Management” is a new book by Richard J. Diven and Mark Shaurette available from Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Ind.

The book’s promoters say it is “an invaluable reference resource for anyone involved in demolition projects, particularly students of construction management and engineering.”

Topics covered in the book include a range of technical and management issues encountered by demolition contractors and those who hire them. Topics include modern demolition practices, the impact of different construction types, demolition regulations, estimating demolition work, demolition contracts, safety on the demolition project, typical demolition equipment, debris handling and recycling, use of explosives, demolition contractors’ participation in disaster response, and demolition project management.

Co-author Richard J. Diven has nearly 40 years of experience in the demolition industry as a manager at structural demolition company ICONCO between 1964 and 2000 and then as founder of R. J. Diven Consulting LLC, Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.

Read more here.

Interview with Michelle Aldous and Wendy Stimson of Constructing Better Health.

Constructing Better Health (CBH) is a not-for-profit organisation established to address this situation and to:

• provide demolition contractors with a fitter, healthier workforce
• provide demolition workers with improved levels of personal health
• provide employers and employees with access to information to improve occupational health and to safeguard site safety

Demolition News spoke to Michelle Aldous, CBH chief executive, and Wendy Stimson, CBH occupational health director, to find out more.

Precious metal removal leaves demolition company out-of-pocket.

Pittsburgh Demolition Inc. is suing the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority over its contract to tear down and salvage scrap at Crawford Station, a former power plant on Harrisburg International Airport property, according to a lawsuit filed March 30 filed in Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas.

The company is asking for a judgment against SARAA for $50,000 plus interest, legal fees and other costs, according to the lawsuit.

The authority, which operates HIA in Lower Swatara Township, gave the Allegheny County-based company a contract in November 2008 to demolish the power plant, according to SARAA.

Because of the $1.17 million estimated value of scrap materials in the building, Pittsburgh Demolition proposed paying the authority $287,000 for the project, according to the lawsuit.

The company alleges SARAA either knew and didn’t disclose, or should have known, that precious metals in Crawford’s turbo generators and condensers had been removed, according to the suit. That changed the amount Pittsburgh Demolition would have bid on the project, the suit claims.

Read the full story here.