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.

A new video from Edinburgh City Council looks behind scenes of October’s triple-blast.

Edinburgh City Council has just made available a new video that captures the triple implosion carried out by Coleman & Co. at the end of October.

Implosion finally fells incomplete South Padre Island’s “Leaning Tower”.

It leaned like a drunk in a strong wind and it was more incomplete than the war in Afghanistan, but this weekend the South Padre Island leaning tower finally came down.

One local news report suggests that the post-implosion clean-up operation could take until April and, judging by this photo, even that might prove ambitious.

You can read the story of this troubled structure here or cut to the chase and watch the video of its final demise below.

Demolition underway at landmark Hawaii lighthouse.

Demolition of the historic Kauhola Point Lighthouse began Friday in what could dramatically change the landscape on Big Island’s Kohala Coast.

Not long after the concrete structure was erected, Kauhola Point began to erode, taking with it the last of nine major lighthouses built in Hawaii.

“We just don’t have the budget to save it,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cesar Acosta said. “It has to come down.”

When it was originally constructed, the lighthouse was 80 feet from the shoreline. Now, it’s less than 20 feet. The point’s erosion started slowly until the earthquake of 2006 took off about 6 feet all at one time.

The demolition is to take three to five days. The Coast Guard has already installed a new, more modern navigational aid that sits farther inland, but some residents said it’s just not the same.

Read more here.

The Winter 2009 edition of Demolition & Dismantling is now available online.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Dykon has won the Texas Stadium contract.

We are receiving reports that Dykon Explosive Demolition Corp. has won the prestigious contract to demolish the Texas Stadium.

Our news sources have thus far been unable to confirm these reports; we haven’t yet been able to wrestle an answer from the lips of Jim Redyke himself; and there’s still no news of the big name sponsor that might be backing the implosion; but watch this space.

Ohio house demolition comes in at just over a third of allocated cost.

If you have grown tired of this site pissing and moaning about low bids and price undercutting, please stop here because we’re about to do it again.

If like me, however, you remain intrigued at just how long the US demolition industry’s race to the bottom can continue, pour yourself a coffee (or something stronger), sit back, and prepare yourself for a tale of an Ohio city that had allocated $8,500 per home for an ongoing house demolition contract, only to be greeted with a series of low bids that valued the work at between $3,200 and $3,300.

Crestline, the city in question, signed contracts this week with Greenwich-based High Touch Homes and Kelstin Incorporated of Shelby to demolish a number of vacant vacant homes and have until mid-January to complete the work.

The city was allocated $85,000 for the project, and it will cost $15,000 to raze and clean up the four sites. Crestline Assistant Safety-Service Director Marc Milliron said the remaining funds will pay for acquisition and demolition of at least three Park Road structures.

He said Crestline will have money left because bids came in under estimates. The city planned to put $8,500 toward each home, and bids came back between $3,200 and $3,300.

If that hasn’t already depressed you enough, you can read more here.

NFDC members secure five out of six places in 2010 Specialist Awards shortlist.

Safedem, recently named Demolition Company of the Year at the first-ever Demolition Awards, is in the running to “do the double” having been named as one of the six finalists in the Construction News Specialist Awards earlier today.

Safedem will be up against some familiar faces with fellow National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ Corporate Members having secured four of the remaining five shortlist places. Facing them will be Cantillon, Clifford Devlin, Erith Group, Euro Dismantling Services, and Expanded Demolition (the only non-NFDC member to make the list).

The contenders have less than three months to practice their acceptance speech or their “gracious in defeat” look; the awards will be presented at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel in London on 4 March 2010.

Further details here.