We spent much of yesterday talking to newspaper reporters. Then this happens.

It could have been so good. One of our precious (and, as it transpired, largely inaccurate) stories picked up by Britain’s most widely read newspapers.; the name demolitionnews on the lips of the three million plus readers of The Sun newspaper across the land; the untold riches from increased site traffic and advertising revenues that would surely follow; and the parties with the Page 3 girls.

Sadly, like the implosion of the two chimneys in Kirby Muxloe that started the whole sorry episode, it wasn’t to be. Despite taking endless, considered and well-crafted (you’ll have to take our word for it) quotes on the subject, all The Sun could manage was this.

Our thanks to John Woodward at C&D Consultancy for this exclusive video:

Mountain Bell building in Arizona brought down in successful implosion.

Earlier today, crews from Advanced Explosives Demolition successfully brought down the former Mountain Bell building in midtown Phoenix. And the spectacular implosion was captured by Fox News.

Update on our earlier update on the failed Kirby Muxloe implosions.

Earlier today, we incorrectly reported that the Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond had overseen the failed implosions at Kirby Muxloe in Leicestershire.

Well, it turns out that it wasn’t the only fail of the day. For while BBC cameras were in attendance, “The Hamster” failed to show as expected. We then compounded matters by reporting (wrongly) that he had been there.

However, on this occasion, things may have turned out for the best. The Sun, Britain’s most widely-read newspaper and an almost permanent fixture in the back pocket of demolition workers up and down the country, picked up on the story and is currently planning to give Demolition News a mention in tomorrow’s edition.

According to C&D Consultancy’s John Woodward, the failed implosions were caused by a faulty batch of detonators; and the pair of chimneys were felled instead by AR Demolition’s high reach Volvo excavator that had been on standby for just such an eventuality.

Great video showing implosions that marked the end of steel production in Newcastle.

Planned demolition of two Leicestershire chimneys ended in double disappointment today.

Sod’s Law dictates that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. However, what few people realise is that this well-known law comes with a sub-clause that dictates that if the TV cameras are present, then failure is not just a possibility but a guaranteed certainty.

Sadly, the team at AR Demolition have today become all-too-familiar with this little known clause as BBC Top Gear presenter Richard “The Hamster” Hammond presided over a twin chimney implosion in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire that failed not once but twice.

With hindsight, the presence of the accident-prone Hamster was never going to bode well. This, after all, is a man who managed to crash a car whilst driving in a straight line on a deserted runway.

At the time of writing, the demolition crew is working to find out exactly what went wrong. We will bring you more news as it happens.

SEC benefits as stimulus money finally reaches demolition sector.

Just a few short weeks after the National Demolition Association’s Mike Taylor bemoaned the fact that stimulus package money had yet to percolate down to the demolition sector, Knoxville-based Safety and Ecology Corp. has been named among the companies receiving stimulus contracts this week for Oak Ridge cleanup projects.

SEC’s contract is valued at about $1.5 million and involves demolition of the east wing of the 2000 Complex, which is a series of old Quonset huts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). ORNL spokesman Billy Stair confirmed the award and said another contract for demolition of the west wing would be awarded later. The work is to be performed between now and April.

Read the full story here.

Augusta contractor makes stand against perceived race-based tender bias.

An Augusta demolition company that was the first local business to legally challenge the way the city buys goods and services has sued again, this time over a last-minute bid substitution that substantially changed the city’s approach to seeking demolition services.

The suit by Thompson Building Wrecking Co. seeks a temporary restraining order and asks the judge to find the city in contempt of court. The company’s attorney, Robert Mullins, filed the motions Friday in U.S. District Court. Thompson contends that the city is trying to give minority-owned businesses preference in direct violation of a November 2007 federal court order that prohibits the city from race-based preferential treatment.

Read the full story here.

Lee Demolition implosion brings down 50-year old paper mill towers.

More than 100 former workers and locals came out on a sunny Thursday afternoon to see the towers of the St Regis Sudbrook Paper Mill demolished. The plant employed people from the village and surrounding towns – including three generations of one family.

Lee Demolition owner David Lee’s son Billy, aged three, pressing the button to activate the blast.

Click here to read more, or see below for a (not very good) video:

Environmental Department to examine demolition of former school building.

A Nova Scotia development group and the provincial Environment Department are attempting to bring closure to issues that arose during the recent demolition of this community’s former school building. The Johnstown Community Development Co-op (JCDC) bought the building and surrounding property in 1988, and subsequently set up several small businesses and community spaces within the facility. This arrangement came to an end two weeks ago, when JCDC officials oversaw the building’s demolition following a two-year period of vacancies and vandalism.

However, the September 9 demolition process involved the placement of large chunks of concrete on the nearby Bras d’Or Lakes shoreline, leading to a complaint with environment department officials that resulted in a formal order to remove these materials by September 12 and send samples of the debris to the department no later than today (Wednesday).

Read the full story here.

High reach machine will pick up where explosives left off at Norsk Hydro. But is it big enough?

Details of the machine to be used to spearhead to fell the Norsk Hydro building in Canada that failed to succumb to implosion a few weeks ago have been released: The machine performing the majority of the work will be a Cat 365CL with a Jewell 136′ (41 metre) single stage telescoping boom and LXP 200 shear/cracker attachment. Provided on a few days notice by Kuhn Equipment of Summerville, NC.

Now according to the press reports, the original building stood at 80 metres. Judging by the various YouTube videos of the failed implosion, the structure didn’t fall very far. And a machine with a potential work height of 41 metres is probably best suited to working at the 30 metre mark.

So while we understand the need to get this building down, it is surely our duty to ask if the chosen machine is actually man enough for the potentially hazardous task in hand?