Nuclear power plant enlists help from original electricians to help demolition works.

Electricians who helped to build the Dounreay nuclear power plant more than 40 years ago have been brought back in to aid in its demolition, according to BBC reports.

The workers assisted in identifying cabling before it was ripped out of the site’s prototype fast reactor.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL), which has dubbed the group “old timers”, said 24 kilometres (15 miles) of cables have been removed.

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Low bid in US…same old, same old, yawn, yawn…

The Northwest Georgia Housing Authority got a dozen bids for demolition of the Hight Homes property Wednesday. Gateway Environmental Corp. of Highland, Ill., had the low base bid of $393,600. Local bidders included Evans Construction of Rome at $1,127,968 and Spriggs Construction of Rome, which bid $752,250.

Sandra Hudson, executive director of the housing authority, said no decision would be made on the bids until a redevelopment plan is approved.

If you can bear the depressive effect, you can read more here.

Work begins on demolition of Ballard’s popular Sunset Bowl.

Yesterday afternoon, demolition crews began tearing down Sunset Bowl, a popular Ballard bowling alley and neighborhood hangout that opened in 1957. The new owners, Avalon, plan to build an apartment complex on the land.

Onlookers gathered outside the chain link fence and watched, some with tears in their eyes, as Sunset Bowl came down.

Read more here or watch the video below.

The world of Mickey Mouse has confessed to a dark, secret love of explosives.

With the “sweet as apple pie” smiles, thinly-veiled moralising, and progressive takeover of the pop charts, Disney is already seen by many (myself included) as an all-consuming and pervasive sect intent on world domination.

And according to a news item on the Disney website suggesting that the company is the world’s second-largest purchaser of industrial explosives, it appears that there might be some basis for those fears.

Read the full story here.

Building voted the most hated in England is to be bought by local authority and razed.

Bournemouth borough council is to spend around £7.5m to rid the Dorset resort of the Waterfront leisure complex. Featuring dark glass and a wavy roof designed to represent the sea, the development, also known as the Imax building, caused an outcry when it was opened in 1998 owing to both its looks and the fact that it blocked a beloved view across the water to the Purbeck Hills.

The cinema, the centrepiece of the complex, did not open for almost three years, closed again soon afterwards and was not re-opened.

In 2005 the Channel 4 programme Demolition asked people which building they would like knocked down and the Imax was judged first in line in England.

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Leading UK contractor believes now is the time for frugality and consolidation.

John Thompson, chairman of Thompsons of Prudhoe, says it has been a difficult 12 months for his business with turnover well down on the previous year. However, he believes the steps it has taken in 2009 will stand it in good stead for another challenging year.

And John Thompson, the son of company founder Bill Thompson, believes maintaining a close eye on the economy’s ongoing difficulties will be the key to the company’s success.

The 60-year-old firm, which operates in demolition, construction and quarrying sectors, saw revenues fall from £30m in 2008 to £22m last year.

“We have to be careful in the current environment,” he said in a frank interview. There is not the confidence around and we have to keep a tight control on costs. This is not the time to be cavalier – it’s the time to be frugal and consolidate.”

Read the full interview here.

Tight demolition deadline cited as reason for low recycling levels on Texas site.

Tuesday marked the second day of demolition on the Lufkin Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall. Demolition crews were hard at work Tuesday afternoon to tear down the building, which was damaged beyond repair by the 23 December tornado.

“A little lumber has been salvaged, but not much else,” one worker said. “You could salvage a lot from what’s left, but we just don’t have the time,” another worker added.

Workers hope to have the building demolished by the end of next week so that construction on a new facility can begin and estimate that it will cost approximately $800,000 to build the new VFW Hall, which will be in the same location.

“We’d start today if we could,” said VFW member Jack Green. “But we’re at a standstill until they finish the demolition.”

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An 18-week project to demolish the Mayfield Terrace flats in Arbroath will begin on Monday.

The final phase of the Cliffburn regeneration project will see the hard-to-let flats demolished and the privately-owned shop units re-roofed.

Other improvements to the surroundings of these properties will also be carried out, as will the formation of an improved commercial hub and gateway project for the residents.

Preliminary site work, which is expected to take 18 weeks, on the long-standing project begins on Monday.

More information here.

Portugal considers demolishing six-year old soccer stadiums to reduce maintenance costs.

In a timely reminder for the authorities in the midst of preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Portuguese cities are under pressure to demolish stadiums built for the 2004 European soccer championships as the government prepares to rein in a widening deficit.

Portugal plans to announce a budget this week requiring extra cost-saving by towns, former economy minister Augusto Mateus said. The cities of Aveiro and Leiria want to cut monthly maintenance payments for public sports arenas of as much as 1.2 million euros ($1.7 million), officials said. Mateus, a former Socialist party minister, and Aveiro’s Social Democrat deputy Ulisses Pereira say they must consider demolition.

Portugal, which spent 600 million euros to build or fix several arenas, now finds them as much as three- quarters empty for league games. They are a symbol of wasteful spending, said Joao Cesar das Neves, an economics professor at Lisbon’s Catholic University.

Read the full story here.

Demolition works rupture pipe containing dye, turning snow pink.

Some snow in a Buffalo neighborhood turned a deep shade of pink after a cloud of powder was released during demolition of a business that used to make food coloring.

A demolition contractor said a pipe that contained about five pounds of residual red dye No. 40 ruptured at a building being torn down near the former Buffalo Color plant Thursday afternoon.

Read more here.