Demolition of incomplete South Padre Island “leaning tower” throws up interesting challenges.

The “implosion” of the faulty, 31-story condominium tower and interconnected four-level parking garage on South Padre Island in Texas is not going to be standard by any measure, says the demolition contractor.

The razing by explosives is complicated by the failed structural elements—a consequence of differential settlement between the structural concrete tower and the post-tensioned garage; post-tensioned beams; the tower’s robust frame; the high water table; and sand that conducts vibrations to nearby buildings, says J. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition Inc.

Tower core settled independently of stairwell core, which settled independently of tower perimeter, which settled independently of post-tensioned garage, causing at least 14 in. of differential settlement.

Contractor CDI expects to raze the topped-out, half-clad building at the end of November or in early December. “We’re not going to rush it. We have a lot to learn before we finalize the plan,” says Loizeaux.

Read the full, detailed story and see the slide show here

Eight years on, demolition of New York’s Deutsche Bank building will start in earnest.

Three and a half years after demolition began on the 41-storey Deutsche Bank – nicknamed the Tombstone at Ground Zero – building damaged in the 9/11 attack on New York, workers next week will start the arduous job of dismantling its 26 remaining stories and removing 15,750 tons of concrete and 11,000 tons of steel.

Crews have already replaced the black plastic netting shrouding the building with blue, fire-retardant netting; removed all the walls, glass, plumbing and work sheds from the interior; and erected a plywood perimeter around the top three floors. The construction manager, Bovis Lend Lease, expects to get a permit from the city’s Buildings Department early next week to resume demolition.

Read the full story here or click here for an illustrated demolition plan.

Demolition work underway…on the wrong building!

Demolition work began Tuesday morning on an Oklahoma building — right next door to the one that was scheduled for removal. The city advertised for bids for removal of the building at 108-110 N. Second St. after the building that used to house Shrimp’s Pawn Shop partially collapsed in September

The City Council hired A&R Wrecking to tear down the remainder of the structure so that it wouldn’t collapse on Pisano’s Pizza next door. The pizzeria was closed when the collapse began for fear that the store’s gas meter would be damaged by the falling building.

Read the full story here.

Demolition work well underway at Houston’s Savoy Hotel.

In a fashion that will be all too familiar to demolition contractors around the world, Cherry Demolition was awarded the contract to demolish a 103-year old portion of Houston’s Savoy Hotel. That contract was then rescinded and subsequently reinstated.

And yet, despite making the contractor jump through hoops, local TV news reporters are now suggesting that work has fallen behind schedule.

Check out the ABC13 video here.

Dundee City Council celebrate as bids come in lower than expected.

For the past few months, Demolition News has been reporting the gradual erosion of bid prices Stateside. Well, as the old adage goes, when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold. So it comes as no surprise to learn that Dundee City Council has awarded the contract to demolish three tower blocks in Menzieshill at a lower-than-expected price.

In truth, the winning bid from Safedem Ltd is only just shy of the £1 million benchmark price the council had set in place (Safedem’s bid price was £565,000 but post demolition treatment of the site, allowances and fees will bring the total cost up to £973,000).

“I know that is cheaper than we expected because of the effects of the economic downturn on the industry,” says housing convener Jimmy Black.

Read the full story here.

Supplier of detonators blamed for failed implosion issue denial statement.

When a chimney failed to implode at Kirby Muxloe in Leicestershire just over a week ago, the finger of blame pointed quickly at what was said to be a faulty batch of detonators.

However, having received numerous phone calls disputing this explanation, Demolition News can exclusively reveal that the supplier of the detonators in question has now issued a statement to many of its largest UK customers, denying that their products were to blame.

Issued by EPC’s technical service manager Rob Farnfield, the statement says:

There appears to be a rumour going around the demolition industry suggesting that the problems with the Kirby Muxlow demolition were due to a bad batch of detonators supplied by EPC-UK (formerly Exchem) and I would like to make the following observations.

1. EPC-UK provided explosives and detonators for the Kirby Muxlow project.
2. The problems with the demolition are still under investigation by the demolition contractor, with help from EPC-UK, and it would not be professional to speculate on causes until this process is completed.
3. At this stage we do not suspect that there is a issue with a batch of detonators as no problems have been reported from the firing of several thousand of the same products over the last few weeks.

EPC-UK is committed to providing the best possible products and technical support to customers and is proud of its relationship with the demolition industry. When problems do occur it is important for the problems to be fully investigated in a proper manner with input from all parties so that such problems can be avoided in the future.

At the time of writing, Demolition News is trying to contact EPC for further comment.

Three Sisingalli Inc. employees the latest to fall foul of asbestos laws.

A Monroe County grand jury has indicted three demolition workers allegedly caught disposing of hazardous waste at the High Acres Landfill in Perinton, New York.

Herbert Babcock, Ronald Caceci and Michael Cenzi are charged with felony endangering public health, safety or environment. They’re accused of hauling asbestos and other materials to the landfill from demolitions of city properties.

The men were arrested last spring amid a major investigation of their employer, Sinisgalli, Incorporated.

Read the full story here.

Mike Johnson’s look at what the well-dressed operative will be wearing this winter.

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when in demolition circles the term workwear meant a tatty pair of jeans topped with an ill-fitting t-shirt and a lumberjack-style shirt that could stand up under its own weight coupled with the ubiquitous tatty trainer shoes.

But as demolition contractors have evolved to take site welfare and worker health more seriously, so the working wardrobe of the average demolition operative has changed to encompass designer-style safety glasses or goggles, high visibility t-shirts, and safety gloves made from high-tech “breathable” fabrics and Goretex safety boots for example.

But never is the need for proper workwear and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) more apparent than in the dark days and early nights of a British winter. And in an enlightened age where it’s not uncommon for demolition contractors to provide sun screen for their site workers during the three and a half days that make up the British summer, the time has come for many contractors and their staff to take a closer look at some of the latest winter workwear products on offer. Of course, one of the key challenges faced when selecting work wear is that it needs to fit correctly and that it allows the wearer to move freely. This becomes more problematic during winter months when workers are inclined to layer items of clothing on top of each other to keep the bitter wind at bay.

The first line in defence against the cold is usually a high visibility jacket, and there is a huge array available, many of them with detachable linings that can be worn as a light jacket during the summer and then upgraded to fend off the rain and snow in winter.

However, as anyone that has worn a high vis’ jacket for any length of time will testify, they soon become hot and uncomfortable. At this point, they are often discarded by the wearer, freeing his movement but immediately contravening site safety regulations.

To address this, we have developed a range of high visibility sweatshirts and even hoodies. Not only do these ensure that operatives remain visible and safe if they remove their coat, they’re also extremely popular with younger and less experienced operatives. Many view the hoodies in particular as vaguely trendy and are, therefore, more inclined to wear them.

The range of work wear clothing available may seem overwhelming but with good advice from a trustworthy supplier you and your staff will be safe warm and dry.

It is interesting to note that many of these items share many characteristics with the clothing worn by athletes and footballer players, allowing the skin to “breathe” and drawing perspiration away from the body. This is particularly important during the winter months as it helps reduce the risk of rapid cooling of the body, a key contributor to the common cold and, therefore, absence through sickness. A good base layer garment is essential such as the old favourite long johns.

The choices of base layer thermal garments are now truly bewildering with all the major manufacturers providing them.

Another common problem during the winter months is the inclination to wear a woollen or thermal hat under a hard hat. This does a great job of keeping the wearer’s head and face warm but it can make the hard hat ill-fitting and, therefore, less safe. But there is a wide range of winter liners available that are warm enough to keep the chill wind out, but thin enough to ensure that hard hats fit snugly and safely.

Gloves, or more accurately high visibility gloves, are also becoming an increasingly common site on UK demolition sites. Not only do they offer an additional level of visibility and protection, they’re also easy to spot in the mud and are far less likely to get lost and require replacement.

They may cost slightly more, but the chances are you’ll need less of them!

To conclude, I would offer the following advice:

• Discuss the importance of workwear and PPE as part of your company or site’s Toolbox Talk
• In addition to checking that they’re wearing hard hats and high vis’ check to ensure that your operatives workwear is suitable for the job AND the climate
• Ensure that operatives have ready access to spare or replacement workwear and PPE, and bear in mind that some contractors, sites or industries have specific requirements on colour of workwear and PPE.
• Stay warm, be seen and stay safe.

Mike Johnson works for Active Workwear. Full details fo the company’s extensive range of workwear can be found on their website.

And if you would like to know more about taking care of your equipment during the cold winter months, please click here.

Documents reveal $2.3 million of demolition contracts awarded without public bidding.

The Baltimore Development Corporation, the city’s quasi-public development arm, over the past year and a half awarded six contracts totaling $2.3 million to demolish buildings without publicly advertising the work, documents have revealed.

According to The Baltimore Sun, each of the six contracts was worth more than $25,000, the amount that is supposed to trigger public notice when work is requested by city agencies. Instead, the BDC asked companies for their prices, and, in the case of two contracts – including one for $1.5 million – did not award the work to the firm offering the lowest price.

This is a continuation of a story that we first covered here. Further details of the latest revelations can be found here.

Check out this video of a seven storey structure implosion in Rio de Janeiro.

It’s always great when we receive notifications of new video content. But somehow it’s even more exciting if it comes from a part of the world that we haven’t covered previously.

So we’re very excited to bring you this brand new video all the way from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, courtesy of reader Fabio Pinto and Fabio Bruno Construcoes. Not only is this from a suitably far-flung location, it also provides a great behind-the-scenes look at the charging of the building prior to implosion.

Many thanks for sending this over Fabio.