Our moustache-growing campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer is underway.

November is but 5 days old and already I am starting to look like the long-lost fourth member of ZZ Top.

In case you have been away for a while or are new to the site, allow me to explain. To help raise awareness of the devastating and wholly male disease, prostate cancer, I have set aside my shaving razor for the month of November and am concentrating on growing that icon of masculinity, a moustache.

Admittedly, having seen what I look like with even the beginnings of a moustache, I am currently camouflaging it with a full beard, an odd mix of black, ginger and grey face fuzz that makes me look like I am eating a large squirrel.

But if I am going to put up with the itchiness, the sideways looks of the clean-shaven, and the looks of disdain from my wife as another piece of dinner gets lodged on my upper lip, the least you can do is to show your support, either by a donation of cash or, simply, by growing a ‘tache of your own.

Full details can be found here.

Demolition engineers making final checks before demolition begins on run-down towers.

Survey work has started this week at Basing View in preparation for the demolition of two of the town’s most run-down office blocks.

City Wall House (pictured far right) and Loddon House are being demolished as part of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s ambitious plans to regenerate the town’s main business park.

Engineers are on site until the middle of next week to carry out tests which will include the removal of large panel sections from the buildings, to help decide the best way to demolish them.

Read the full story here.

Cardem puts its Liebherr R954CVHHD high reach to work.

We haven’t yet discovered where in France this video was shot but we’re always pleased to see Cardem‘s immaculate, white-liveried Liebherr equipment in action.

If you’re going to work demolition, Hawaii’s a pretty good place to do it.

Under normal circumstances, we would steer clear of running a video that is quite clearly an advertisement. But this just has so much going for it, that we’re going to make an exception.

First of all, it’s all the way from Hawaii, a tropical paradise not normally associated with the demolition business. In addition, the company in question – Island Demo Inc – seems to run an impressive equipment fleet and has clearly grasped the recycling nettle. But best of all is the presenter, owner and CEO Mike Leary, a guy who is the very epitome of the laid-back aging surfer dude. Nice work Mike.

Want your contract featured on Demolition News? It’s easier than you think.

There are two questions that we’re asked more often than any others by contractors that have seen Demolition News.

This first, obviously, is “what the hell are you talking about?” to which we have yet to find a suitable answer.

The second, for which there actually is a suitable answer, is “how do I get my company featured here?”

Well you basically have two options. You can either pay for a devilishly handsome, well-informed, urbane and experienced PR type to write some sparkling prose that could be used on Demolition News or any one of a multitude of demolition and/or construction magazines out there.

Or, if the thought of dealing with a PR type fills you with the same sense of dread that most people reserve for the dentist, or if your marketing budget is trapped in the snarling teeth of recession, you can always do it yourself. And fear not; you don’t have to be William Shakespeare or even, heaven forbid, Dan Brown.

To help ensure that your submissions contain all the right and relevant information that we (and, more importantly, our readers) are looking for, we have produced a very simple Job Site Report form that contains just about every question we’d ask if we were there in person (aside, of course, from “what time is lunch?”)

We can’t promise to publish every single submission (although we will try) but it’s worth noting that any submissions backed by good quality photos or (better still) video will be immediately bumped up the list.

We hope you find this Job Site Report form useful; but if you’re still confused and require assistance from that devilishly handsome guy we mentioned earlier…

Californian demolition contractor launches its own iPhone application.

However, there are those that have truly embraced new technology and it is perhaps fitting that one of those at the forefront of the technological revolution resides in California, spiritual home of all things tecchie.

Not content with just using an Apple iPhone to make calls and answer customer emails, Santa Ana-based Union Environemtnal Inc. has worked with web developer Smooth Edge Design to produce its own, unique iPhone application. Available free-of-charge through the Apple App Store, the application allows the company to quickly share photos of past and current projects with customers, prospective customers and other iPhone users around the world.

“It made perfect sense to use an iPhone app for pictures of our past and current projects. Being that the iPhone is very popular, we wanted to take advantage of this advertising and marketing medium,” says Union Environmental vice president, Reggie Kama. “With the help of our website designer Elijah Windsor, it only took 4 or 5 weeks to develop. We will continue to provide app updates as our projects progress and are completed and new ones are started. The iPhone app provides limitless opportunities. Overall feedback has been very beneficial in that we are now capable of reaching new possibilities and avenues that have not been previously considered and are generally undiscovered in our industry. We consider ourselves pioneers in this regard.”

Whether this will mean anything to those among us who still believe a telephone should be a strictly stationary item, ideally one fitted with a wind-up handle, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that Union Environmental are really pushing the technology envelope. And, as an avid iPhone fan-boy, I will be watching their app develop with great interest.

Breaking News: Two buildings collapse during demolition in Melbourne.

Two buildings have collapsed at Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north, closing part of Sydney Road.

It is believed a building near Albion Street was under demolition when part of it collapsed, throwing debris onto the road and a nearby medical centre, which in turn also caved in.

There are no reports of injuries and traffic is being diverted.

Further details can be found here and more photos from the scene can be found here.

Pair of Kansas River bridges set to be imploded in the next few weeks.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority plans to blast one of its original Kansas River bridges on 15 November, dropping the steel structure into the water for removal and eventual salvage. The second of the two bridges is scheduled to be blasted four days later.

The authority announced its tentative blasting plans Monday afternoon, now that turnpike traffic has been switched onto a new bridge that crosses the river at the northern edge of Lawrence.

All of the work is part of a $130 million project to replace the bridges, overhaul two interchanges and make other changes to handle increased traffic loads and prevent maintenance problems and rising expenses in the future.

Read the full story here.

UK’s National Demolition Training Group seeking candidates for pilot programme.

The National Demolition Training Group, the training arm of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, has announced that it is seeking candidates for a new apprenticeship scheme.

The NDTG reports that the pilot programme will take place at its state-of-the-art training centre in Hemel Hempstead. NDTG (Scotland) will also be offering this opportunity to operatives.

Following the success of the pilot, the NDTG will be offering further Apprenticeship Programmes throughout the country.

Further details are available on the attached documents:

Apprenticeship Advert
Candidate Eligibility

Escalating demolition costs pile on the woes at Deutsche Bank building.

It was a problem created amidst the US nation’s darkest hours; and yet the toxic Deutsche Bank building in Manhattan seems intent on making that problem even worse.

More than eight years after that fateful day in 2001, the demolition of the “Tombstone at Ground Zero” has been pushed back so many times that it now seems to operate on its own calendar. The building has killed two firefighters, been embroiled in a major fraud case, and become an unwelcome reminder of the events of 9/11.

And now, with demolition scheduled to start in just a few days, it appears that the building is to rub financial salt into New York’s gaping wound with demolition costs having escalated from an estimated £45 million to a staggering (and still only estimated) $274 million.

Click here for further details.