Demolition News modeling agency…

Demolition News tries its hand at modeling with new DemoBoys t-shirt.

In amongst the various bills, final demands and threatening letters received here at Demolition News Towers this morning was a package that had journeyed across the Atlantic to provide us with some Autumn cheer.

But rather than boring you with words, take a look at the following video:

In addition to the long sleeve t-shirt shown in the video, we also have a short sleeve one that we’d like to offer to the winner of a free prize draw. In order to enter, please use the comments area below to answer this simple question: In which US city is Demo Boys based?

Just one small word of warning – The t-shirt we are offering is a US medium which means it’s suitable tor someone with the build of a silverback gorilla – 9 stone weaklings need not apply.

SCG swells our ranks…

Crusher spares supplier SCG is the latest to join our Business Directory.

!cid_image001_jpg@01CA4BF1We are delighted to welcome Hamilton and Warrington-based crusher spares and wear part specialist SCG Supplies Ltd as the latest company to be listed on the Demolition News Business Directory.

Please take a look at their informative website and be sure to check out their excellent series of “essential spares” series which gives a great insight into the most commonly used and often overlooked spares and wear parts for screens, trommels and crushers.

Beehives used as weapons in demolition protest…

Turkish residents give new meaning to “a bee in your bonnet” in anti-demolition protest.

Residents clashed with police and other security forces on Tuesday during the demolition of some buildings constructed on watercourses in the Sancaktepe and Samandıra neighborhoods of İstanbul.

Sancaktepe residents blocked streets in their neighborhood with garbage containers early in the morning to prevent teams from demolishing their houses. Police, in response, tried to disperse the angry crowd with tear gas. When the residents started to throw Molotov cocktails and stones at police, police officers confronted them by firing warning shots into the air and using water cannons and pepper spray. Protestors also threw beehives at police.

Read the full story here.

Corn Exchange top down underway…

Top down set to start in heart of Peterborough city centre.

getEdFrontImage.aspxA pair of mini excavator were lifted on to the Corn Exchange building in central Peterborough yesterday to begin the second stage of demolition work.

Onlookers watched as a crane lifted the units onto the structure to commence the initial top-down demolition work. Once that is complete, the remains of the six-storey building in Cowgate will be demolished by high reach excavator.

Peterborough City Council’s head of strategic planning Andrew Edwards said: “The location of the Corn Exchange makes it a technically challenging demolition in the heart of Peterborough.”

Read the full story here.

Casket company stack set to fall…

Demolition set to start on casket company smokestack in Oneida, New York.

doc4ad3e40fd5c8b779733474Demolition work is set to start on the site of the old casket factory some time this week, according to Assistant City Engineer Mike Bowe.

The City of Oneida Common Council received two bids for the job and last week approved the low bid of $12,500 from United Contractors of Utica.

Neither bidder opted to bring it down with explosives.

The city put $99,000 in the 2009 budget in anticipation of the possible demolition after receiving legal authority by the common council to “abate dangerous conditions at the site.”

Read more here.

Big E still awaiting green light…

Bidding war and planning screw-ups leave Executive Inn still standing.

The Executive Inn in Owensboro isn’t coming down this week after all. Officials said a paperwork error is causing the delay. Planners are still trying to figure out what to put in the hotel’s place.

The mayor said there’s no rush on a final plan, and in the meantime, the property will be used as green space, and to host next years barbecue festival.

There is no word yet on when demolition will start.

Read more here.

Create 3D buildings in Google Earth…

Google makes it easier for users to create 3D models on its Google Earth application.

Google is launching their version of Sim City today, Google Building Maker. The tool lets you create buildings for Google Earth. Building Maker lets you pick any building and construct a 3D version of it using photos and building blocks provided by Google. Google says that buildings are relatively fast to construct using their tool, taking only a matter of minutes.

Building Maker runs within your web browser and connect with your Google Account so you can get credit for your building. You can also use Google SketchUp to edit or modify your creation.

Read more here

A lesson in demolition…

DSM Demolition is hard at work on the demolition of the Walsall College near Birmingham.

Demolition of the old Walsall College tower block was moving apace yesterday as DSM’s high reach machine started work in earnest. The building formerly served as the main administration offices and tuition classrooms at the St Paul’s Street premises.

It is being demolished to make way for a proposed multi-million pound Tesco superstore. Billy Young, contracts manager of demolition firm DSM, said: “The removal of the main college building is the latest milestone in the project and we are pleased with progress so far. We are on schedule to complete demolition on the site early next year as expected.”

Read more here or watch the video below:

Smokestack implosion destined for TV…

A pair of smokestacks will be imploded later today in Lawrence, Merrimack Valley.

More than 100 years of history will come crashing down Thursday morning as two chimneys are imploded in Lawrence; and television crews will be there to capture every second of it.

Cable network channel TLC will be in Lawrence filming when two smokestacks at 290 Merrimack St. are imploded this week. The demolition will be part of a new reality program profiling the lives of Lisa Kelly and her husband, Eric, who run Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc.

Read the full story here.

Where do we go from here…?

Construction Equipment blog questions the future of demolition equipment.

Given a clean sheet of paper, a healthy dose of hindsight and the facts regarding the environmental impact and fossil fuel depletion that would be wrought by their invention, would the pioneers of the internal combustion engine really have designed their product in the same way?

Well, in truth, yes they probably would.

But given the same circumstances, would demolition equipment designers really propose using a beefed-up excavator to tackle the demolition of a 100 metre high structure?

This is the question addressed in our latest Construction Equipment blog, which you can see by clicking here.