Iraqi torture chamber faces demolition and replacement by Government building.

Aside from the obvious listed buildings and those of great architectural merit, there are certain buildings and structures that should be forever immune to demolition: pubs; cafes selling a good quality full English breakfast; and the Boleyn Ground.

But there are some that should be marked for destruction almost before the cement and concrete holding them together is dried and cured: Tax offices; call centres; and the Emirates Stadium.

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One of world’s largest demolition projects draws ever closer.

US Dept. of Energy spokesman John Shewairy today confirmed that discussions are underway about demolishing the K-33 building; a massive, 260,000 square metre (2.8 million-square-foot) structure that was decommissioned and cleaned up by BNFL in the 1990s as part of a three-building D&D project.

But Shewairy said no decision has been made on K-33 demolition, and he declined to estimate the cost or confirm whether DOE intends to use Recovery Act money for the job. He also wouldn’t say if the work would be assigned to Bechtel Jacobs, the current cleanup manager.

“We are considering the possibility of that demolition project, but have not come to a decision at this time,” Shewairy said via e-mail.

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Woodnock Mill chimney falls to age-old demolition method.

An Accrington landmark came crashing to earth yesterday, marking the end of a mill’s 229-year history.

The demolition of Woodnook Mill chimney created a huge dust cloud as it came swiftly down, watched by a crowd of spectators who had gathered in the rain to watch the end of an era.

The demolition team used an old-fashioned Fred Dibnah technique to topple the land-mark safely at 2pm.

Rather then use explosives, which could make it unpredictable as to where the chimney would fall, the team used a technique to cut a large hole at the bottom of the chimney, supporting the brickwork with wooden props, and then burnt away the props so the chimney fell.

Saginaw stack comes tumbling down.

Bay City-based Dore & Associates Contracting Inc. crews are clawing and scraping at a towering smokestack at Lake State Railway and Saginaw Bay Southern Railway, 750 N. Washington.

A crane “just nibbles a little bit off at a time,” said Vicky K. Chmura, railway property administrator.

“The smokestack was starting to crumble at the top,” she said. “It was a safety hazard. We’re happy that it’s not going to drop on somebody’s head.”

The stack carried emissions from a steam powerhouse that ran air tools in a locomotive garage. Today, the garage still is used to store and repair locomotives, she said.

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Chemical works implosion startles local residents.

An implosion rocked the La Porte area for a few seconds on Saturday morning. The Sunoco Chemicals plant demolished one of its buildings. Ruble is all that’s left in the area. Some residents found out about the implosion through friends but other residents were never notified. They were startled this morning.

“It was just a really loud noise and i thought somebody was walking on my roof ,” said Lisa Rahimi, resident.

Sunoco Chemicals representatives said they did inform all residents and the controlled implosion was no cause for concern. Earlier this year, officials announced the closure of the plant. They said this is the final stage of the demolition process.

Work underway on South Jersey building contaminated with mercury.

After more than three years of legal wrangling, demolition has begun on what used to be Kiddie Kollege in Franklinville, Gloucester County; a day care center that had been housed in a former thermometer factory.

Some five dozen kids were exposed to mercury levels more than two dozen times those deemed acceptable in 2006. Assemblyman Paul Moriarty isn’t sure how long it’ll take to tear the building down, get rid of tainted soil and clean the site up.

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Flying concrete kills woman and child during controversial implosion in former Soviet state.

A woman and her young daughter have been killed in Georgia during the controversial demolition of a huge Soviet World War II memorial.

The demolition was being carried out to make space for a new parliamentary building and reports suggest the two victims were hit by flying concrete. Prosecutors are considering whether safety standards were violated.

Russian officials and some Georgian opposition politicians criticised the decision to demolish the monument.

The girl, said to be aged seven or eight, and her mother were killed when workers set off an explosion to take down the memorial in Georgia’s second-largest city Kutaisi, interior ministry spokesman Zura Gvenetadze told AFP news agency.

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Our thanks to Robert Kullinski and Mark Bryan for bringing this tragic story to our attention.

Video showing helicopter & wrecking ball smashing a Norwegian cliff.

Date set for bridge to drop; but crowds urged to stay away.

New York and Vermont transportation authorities have tentatively set Wednesday 23 December as the date on which Idaho-based AED will demolish the Champlain Bridge. Details were still being firmed up this morning.

“23 December is our planning date and is not ‘official,’” stressed John Zicconi, director planning, outreach & community affairs for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. “It could change, but that is the date and time we are shooting for. When it becomes official, we will post on our own (Web) sites and make an announcement. But we are telling staff — state police, fire, rescue, etc. — to gear up for that time and date.”

Zicconi stressed that the demolition is not being advertised as a community spectacle. Quite the contrary. “We are discouraging people from attending,” Zicconi said. “It is supposed to be cold, and there will be no facilities. And there is no parking except along local streets. I stress, we are not throwing a party, and we are not inviting people to attend anything. There is no ceremony of any kind. What we have is a construction site. We understand people can stand on the side of the road and view our construction, but we are making no accommodations. People may have to walk a considerable distance to get there, as there is no parking, it is expected to be very cold and there will be no places to warm up or go the bathroom.”

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EPA moves to block “gagging dust” at Lorain High School demolition site.

Residents, and others in the Cleveland town have been enduring the dust and aggravation almost since the demolition began in July. Conditions worsened in the past few weeks after brick walls were turned into huge piles of debris.

Much of the blame for the unacceptable conditions have been directed at DEM/EX, the Illinois company running the demolition effort along with its subcontractors. Thursday, an Ohio EPA inspector gave the contractors working on the site a warning about the dust problem. The EPA is considering whether to impose other sanctions.

Apparently, the contractor had previously complained fire hydrants in the area were frozen and couldn’t be used. However, an EPA official noted correctly, “If it can’t be done right it shouldn’t be done.”

The city received complaints about the dust on Monday evening and talked to contractors on the job site the next day, advising them to get the dust under control, Contractors said they were days away from completing the project. Fortunately, the Ohio EPA said all asbestos was removed from the building before demolition began.

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