Drexel Shaft set for implosion; date yet to be set.

The Penn Coach Yard chimney, or the more colloquial term amongst students for the structure, the Drexel Shaft, will be imploded on a date still to be determined, according to James Katsaounis, assistant vice president of Communications and Marketing at Drexel University.

Amtrak plans to exploit the open property for the purpose of better security and emergency access to existing utility tunnels as well as the construction of a parking facility for maintenance and construction vehicles.

The implosion of the Shaft is significant to students at Drexel University as it has come to represent many of the red tape and administrative issues at the University. The Shaft also contributes to Drexel’s “ugly campus” ratings.

Read the full story here.

With new bridge built, Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge is set to fall.

Just two weeks after a new Point Marion Bridge opened 15 feet away, a demolition company scheduled Monday morning to destroy the old, 810-foot-long bridge, which carried traffic along Route 88 across the Monongahela River between Fayette and Greene counties.

The rusty, retired structure, named after the treasury secretary under President Jefferson, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the second-oldest cantilever-truss bridge in the state.

It remained in use until the Oct. 22 dedication of its successor, but PennDOT rated it “structurally deficient” and considered it one of the most unsafe bridges in Pennsylvania.

Read the full story here.

Results from last night’s Demolition Awards in Amsterdam.

The first-ever Demolition Awards took place in Amsterdam last night; the results were as follows:

Service & Support: Liebherr
Innovation Award – Custom Project: Rusch Special Projects
Innovation Award – Series Product: Volvo
Demolition Training Award: Dorton Group
Demolition Safety Award: DH Griffin
Environmental & Recycling Award: Costello Demolition
Urban Demolition: Keltbray
Industrial Demolition: General Smontaggi
Explosive Demolition: Safedem
Demolition Company of the Year: Safedem
Demolition Contract of the Year: Keltbray

Further details can be found here.

Exclusive: Report on Unfair Competition from the European Demolition Association.

Way back in June, the European Demolition Association (EDA) met in sunny Nice in the South of France. On the agenda were a number of discussion points, not least of which was the perceived unfair competition faced by accredited demolition contractors.

This matter was discussed in a round table session, the findings of which were then compiled by Mark Anthony of Demolition News in readiness for this weekend’s EDA-supported Demolition Summit in Amsterdam.

The full report is attached herewith.

Unfair Competition Report

Demolition Fail: German implosion goes awry.

Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words but, in case this one isn’t speaking to you, we offer you our take, below:

Hans (left): “Was it supposed to end up like that?
Jurgen: “No, but if we tell them it’s an art installation to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, no-one will notice!

Mass industry unemployment could be reduced for less than $4,000.

Dear US Demolition News reader,

I am writing this letter to you in the hope that you will work with me to help your fellow US demolition workers who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unemployed at this time.

Although the worst recession since the Great Depression is apparently over, the US economy is not out of the woods yet. Figures released today show unemployment to be at its highest level since 1983 (10.2% to be precise). According to the National Demolition Association, more than 7,000 US demolition workers are currently among that figure.

Now I realise that 7,000 out of the 15.7 million national total is small beer. But for those 7,000 demolition workers facing a bleak Christmas and an uncertain New Year, that small beer must feel like the end of the world.

For the past few weeks, I have been urging the US to adopt the demolition-jobs.co.uk scheme that I started here in the UK to help the industry’s short and long term unemployed in this country. That campaign has received a swathe of coverage and feedback, all of it positive, but a decision is still to be reached. And all the while, those US demolition workers remain unemployed; and a lack of confidence continues to undermine the recovery of the US economy.

The cost of implementing a US version of the demolition-jobs.co.uk website would be less than $4,000. No-one stands to make a profit from that $4,000; that simply covers the purchase of the background code and the changing of the various elements to US terms etc. (Furthermore, you must understand from the outset that this is not an investment – The site is free to use for employees and employers; no-one will make a red cent on this venture. So if you’re looking for a fast buck, you’ll need to look elsewhere.)

Now if memory serves me correctly, the National Demolition Association‘s membership comprises something like 1,000 members. So what we’re talking about here is a “donation” of less than $4 per NDA member company to possibly help get one of your fellow demolition workers back to what he does best – work demolition.

So what can you do to help? Well, the easy answer is that you urge the National Demolition Association to look at the UK site and to make a fast and positive decision. Failing that, we just need a group of like-minded, altruistic individuals that are willing to stump up sufficient cash to help their fellow demolition workers in their hour of need.

I thank you for your attention and apologise for the begging nature of this letter – I trust that it will be received in the spirit with which it is intended.

In the meantime, let me leave you with one final thought. The next time you emerge from your local Starbucks clutching your double-decaf grande macchiato, please remember that the amount you just spent could have helped put a US demolition worker back on site.

Kindest Regards
Mark Anthony

Demolition News feed being used by National Demolition Association.

For the past six months or so, the US has been our fastest-growing source of readers and subscribers here at Demolition News. But, just recently, there has been an unexpected but welcome spike in traffic originating in the good ol’ US or A.

And now we know why.

We had an email last night that pointed out the fact that some of our news stories are now appearing on the home page of the National Demolition Association NDA), the world’s biggest demolition trade organisation representing the largest demolition market in the world.

The NDA Newsroom is a rolling feed of demolition news from around the world and we’re flattered and delighted to be a part of it. “Looking back, we were really taking a gamble when we launched Demolition News just over a year ago. We regularly asked ourselves whether there would be sufficient news to keep the site interesting, sufficient web-literate readers to support it, and sufficient advertisers to make it at least pay for itself,” says founder Mark Anthony. “But in just 12 months, the site has grown from daily updates to more than 50 updates per week; the readership grows literally by the day; and the site is largely self-sufficient thanks to the support of our advertisers and sponsors. The fact that our news feeds are now being used by the National Demolition Association in the US together with the National Federation of Demolition Contractors and the Institute of Demolition Engineers in the UK really underlines the fact that we’re now recognised as a legitimate and authoritative source of industry news, one that is faster and more responsive than any other industry publication or forum in existence.”

Anthony also points to the ongoing development of the Demolition News website in the face of a global economy as a key to the site’s ongoing growth. “Like the industry we have served, we have had to batten down the hatches in the face of this recession. But we have continued to invest to make the site bigger and better. We have added a Business Directory, a Used Equipment section and a weekly email newsletter, and we’re just a few days away from adding another exciting new section to the site that we believe will help make Demolition News the industry’s preferred choice of demolition news and advice,” he says. “A very good friend of the site recently used the Field of Dreams movie tagline about this site: ‘if you build it, they will come’ and he’s been proved absolutely right. Our readership is growing almost daily, and with each day we’re acquiring new readers from as far afield as Australia and China.”

Anthony further believes that the growth of the site is indicative of a move away from paper-based publishing towards a more instant form of news gathering. “Demolition is a fast-paced business and demolition professionals are no longer willing to wait two or three months to hear the ‘latest news’. They want today’s news today,” he concludes. “International demolition magazines are fine if you want something to put on the coffee table in your company’s reception area. But if you want the latest news, there is nowhere more up-to-date than Demolition News.”

The last of the Miami River bridge implosions is now just five days away.

The final section of the Miami river bridge will collapse into the Missouri River at 7 am on Wednesday 11 November, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release.

The section is being imploded in the last of a three part demolition project. The implosion can be viewed from the public river access area near the bridge.

The Miami River Bridge project calls for a partial replacement of the bridge. The overhead truss will be removed along with all the current decking and girders.

Read the full story here.

Carbon County convent dismantled piece-by-piece.

Video showing the piece-by-piece demolition of Saint Ann’s Convent in Lansford.

Governor delivers long-awaited payment promise to St Bernard subcontractors.

On 28 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans to become the costliest and one of the five deadliest in US history. More than four years on and New Orleans’ residents are still recovering.

It is almost two years since a team of subcontractors – including several demolition companies – helped demolish the St Bernard Parish homes damaged by Katrina; and many are still to be paid.

However, according to New Orleans City Business, there’s now a light at the end of the tunnel for these contractors.

On Wednesday, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the parish will receive three federal grants totaling $21 million for hurricane recovery efforts and hazard mitigation. The first grant is a commitment of $20.5 million in community development block grants to allow the parish to pay for demolitions that Jindal said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not cover.

“When FEMA refused to reimburse St. Bernard Parish for these demolitions, we were determined they not be stuck paying this bill,” Jindal said. “We fought to cut through the red tape to get funding. We’re happy to announce funding that will go towards the demolition of more than 750 blighted structures that served as old wounds and reminders of the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and would have burdened the parish’s effort to attract new businesses to the parish.”

Read the full story here.