One man’s trash is another man’s masterpiece, according to Lawrence Straughn.

“Somebody threw it away. I’m gonna make it into something,” he said. “I’m recycling.”

Read more here.

Irving City council sets up implosion watch webcam at Texas Stadium.

Its implosion is still a few weeks away but fans of the iconic Texas Stadium can catch a final glimpse online following Irving City council’s installation of an “implosion watch” webcam.

Admittedly, there’s very little going on there right now – In fact, when we last looked, the stadium was shrouded in darkness with just a few cars driving by. But it will certainly be worthy of a visit on implosion day.

Click here to check out the live webcam.

“I just climbed it; it must be safe” says Australian sit-in protestor.

A sit-in has begun atop the 47 metre high heritage-listed Jimna fire tower in an effort to stop the Government demolishing the landmark structure.

Jimna Fire Tower Action Group spokesman Dave Wright climbed the tower – between Nanango and Maroochydore – on Monday and said he would stay there as long as it took for the Government to promise to save the structure.

The Primary Industries forestry department sought to demolish the tower in 2006 to save on costs.
After protests from Mr Wright’s group, the department proposed the following year to do repairs before handing the tower to the Kilcoy Shire Council. It rejected the offer because of concerns about upkeep.

Mr Wright said he hoped his sit-in would prove as untrue as the Government’s claim the tower was unsafe.

“This is a total fabrication. I’ve just climbed it and it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll stay up here as long as it takes … the Government to acknowledge its heritage obligations.”

Read more here.

CDI claims world record for Leaning Tower implosion. But do the maths stack up?

The demolition industry is blessed with more than its fair share of giant egos and it seems that rarely a month goes by when someone isn’t claiming their latest contract is the biggest, tallest, widest or loudest on record.

So when we saw news reports claiming that the implosion of the South Padre Island’s “leaning Tower” this past weekend claiming that it had set a new world record for the tallest reinforced concrete structure ever imploded, we were willing to just let it slide and leave the people at Guinness to do the math. However, when we we looking ahead to the forthcoming implosion of the 1515 building in West Palm Beach, something just didn’t stack up.

Before CDI pressed the button, the Leaning Tower stood 31 storeys tall and apparently measured 378 feet (115.21 metres). Meanwhile, the soon-to-be-shot 1515 condo building in West Palm Beach stands at 30 storeys and yet measures just 312.28 feet (95.18 metres).

So the South Padre tower was one storey and a full 66 feet taller than the 1515 condo? Really? Even though it had been sinking from the time it was built?

I realise that storeys vary in height and it’s just possible that these figures are totally legitimate.

But with world records and, more importantly, giant egos at stake, are we all absolutely certain that all demolition companies are using the same units of measurement?

New video preview of National Geographic Demolition Dynasty TV series.

We can’t find a version of this with an English language voice-over, but the footage, featuring CDI among others, is no less impressive.

Gateshead’s iconic “Get Carter” car park to remain standing….for now.

“You’re a big man but you’re in bad shape. With me, it’s a full time job. Now behave yourself.” Those immortal lines were spoken by Michael Caine’s Jack Carter character in the original 1971 movie “Get Carter” shortly before throwing that same big man over the edge of a multi-storey car park in the centre of Gateshead.

Nearly forty years later, that car park stands largely alone as the 1960s Trinity Square Shopping Centre of which it was a part is slowly demolished to make way for a new Tesco superstore. And it looks as though that iconic car park may stand for some time to come, or at least until Tesco’s plans for the town centre are satisfactory, council bosses have said.

Demolition of the surrounding development started about a year ago; and Tesco says it is making good progress on the plans, which currently include a new supermarket, bars and restaurants.

Negotiations between Gateshead Council and the firm have been going on since the Trinity Square revamp was announced in 2007. However, questions have been raised about the length of time it is taking for demolition to begin at the car park.

Read more here.

Condominium owner faces $1,000/day fine if demolition runs late.

Implode 1515 S. Flagler by 28 February or face a $1,000 per day fine. That’s what the West Palm Beach city commission decided tonight after Trinity Development Group LLC asked for another extension in taking down the 30-story, hurricane ravished eyesore that’s been vacant for five years.

Neighbors pleaded with the city to not grant Trinity an extension through May 30. In the end, the sides compromised. Trinity will have until May 30 to complete the entire project, which includes debris cleanup, but must implode the building by February 28. Otherwise, the fines will kick in.

Read more here.

Nebraska hotel comes down thanks to one big push?

A passer-by captured this video footage of a hotel frontage coming down in the amusingly-named Wahoo, Nebraska. But what brought the wall down? Was it an invisible excavator; a silent implosion; or was it, as this video seems to suggest, a big shove from a particularly strong operative?

You decide:

Demolition of Riverfront State Prison in Camden is to begin Wednesday.

City officials said this morning the 24-year-old Riverfront State Prison in North Camden would face the wrecking ball in two days.

The prison officially was shuttered in June after the few remaining inmates were transferred elsewhere. The $40 million facility was once home to more than 1,000 inmates between its 400 cells and three dormitory trailers.

Read more here.

Where does competitive pricing end and economic suicide begin?

There can be no doubt whatsoever that the past 12 months have been among the toughest that many in our industry have experienced. There has been precious little work available, and any work that has continued has carried with it wafer-thin or non-existent margins. Little wonder then that the demolition industry has cut its prices to keep men and machines working in the possibly vain hope that someone might reignite the light at the end of the tunnel.

However, there’s competitive pricing and then there’s desperate acts of economic suicide thinly disguised as competitive pricing. And it is our belief that the latest round of bidding from the US – this time on the demolition and decontamination of an Illinois steel plant – has ventured so far beyond financial prudency that it now serves only to mark the ongoing decline of the US demolition business.

Demolition News has been given an exclusive look at the prices received from the 15 that submitted a bid and it makes for staggering reading.

At the very top end of the bids, Dore & Associates submitted a price of $1,962,700, National Wrecking came in at $1,871,700 while well-known and respected companies including American Wrecking, Champion Environmental Services and Entact Environmental Services huddled either side of the $1.0 million mark.

But what marks the attached document as evidence of the world going mad is the $418,000 bid from local company, K Plus Environmental Services.

Now admittedly, they’re a local company so we should probably make allowances for the fact that their transport costs might be lower. They might also have a nice convenient location close by at which they can process or dispose of the arisings from the demolition works. And, given their environmental leanings, perhaps they are well equipped to handle the decontamination of a steel plant and all the chemical hazards this site is likely to throw up.

But do we honestly believe that they’re able to do all of this for around a fifth of the cost of the highest bid; or that they’re able to do it for less than half the bid prices submitted by some of the US’ most respected companies?

So who wins if such a low bid is successful?

Well, the city MIGHT win, assuming that the work can be carried out to their full satisfaction and environmental, health and safety standards at such a low price. And perhaps the contractor MIGHT win as this contract would undoubtedly keep his men and machines moving for a few months.

But one thing’s clear, the big loser in all of this is the US demolition industry. Such low prices do little more than reset the industry pricing benchmark and it could take months, years or even decades before pricing rises back to a level at which US contractors can make a reasonable profit whilst continuing to invest in “luxuries” such as training, health and safety, and new equipment.

The subject of low bidding is a current topic on the Demolition News Forum so please take the time to hit this link and let us have your thoughts.