Bayer CropScience enters final phase of Widnes decommissioning project.

Bayer, a world leader in the field of crop protection, crop pest control and plant biotechnology with global sales of €6.4 billion, ceased production at the Gorsey Lane site in April 2009, as part of a major restructuring programme.

But the two-phase closure and clearance of the award-winning site, which once employed over 100 people, actually began in April 2008 with the 22-week decommissioning, dismantling and demolition of the PZ plant.

With the help and support of specialist engineering consultants and construction design management (CDM) co-ordinators RVA Group, Bayer was able to continue operating the other half of the site – its EF (Ethofumesate) plant – while the PZ plant was being demolished.

Now extensive decontamination of the EF plant itself is coming to a close, with the appointed contractor EDS entering the final dismantling phase before the entire site is finally cleared.

The Widnes site consists of a variety of structures ranging from simple brick-built administration buildings to heavy steel-framed concrete production facilities, and also includes warehouse buildings, effluent treatment plants, labs and workshops. A range of hydraulic excavators and long reach machines with 30-35 metre reach capabilities will be used to bring the buildings down.

But as part of the works programme, RVA has also stipulated that the dismantling contractor devise detailed method statements for the careful retrieval of process plant pressure vessels weighing up to 10 tonnes. This high-value equipment must be salvaged without damage for re-installation at Bayer’s Norwich site.

Bayer site manager Steve Tynegate said: “We engaged the services of RVA in 2007 when the site closure was announced – RVA’s unique service and independence were precisely what we needed to manage the closure. RVA have also worked on other sites within the group, and all we have heard is praise.

“Their involvement has ensured that all aspects of the demolition side of the project – scope definition, contractor selection, and the interface management under CDM – were of the highest class and significantly contributed to our excellent safety and environmental performance. We could not have achieved this without RVA.”

Demolition-Jobs.co.uk has a great selection of experienced workers seeking employment.

It’s been a long time coming but it finally looks as though UK demolition workloads are on the up, even if margins aren’t.

So if you are experiencing an upturn and need additional staff to help you cope, look no further than demolition-jobs.co.uk.

demolition-jobs.co.uk was the altruistic initiative established by Demolition News and the National Federation of Demolition Contractors to help short and long-term unemployed demolition workers find alternative employment. And it has been a great success.

Currently seeking work through the site are a pair of qualified contracts managers, two Topmen, and three demolition supervisors from across the length and breadth of the UK.

So, if you’re looking for new staff, make demolition-jobs.co.uk your first port of call.

Demolition has embraced the Internet, but not to the extent of conservationists.

Just over four years ago, when I took on the role as the media relations consultant for the UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors, I was asked to send a message to all of its 160+ Corporate members using an existing email database.

More than half of the emails bounced back with messages such as “gone away” and “broken link”; a sad indictment of the demolition industry’s adoption of the Internet.

Fast-forward just a few years, however, and how the industry has changed. During one recent meeting involving some 12 or more UK demolition contractors, the meeting chairman offered delegates a “comfort break”, a colloquial term for a visit to the bathroom or a cigarette break. All but two of the delegates accepted the offer of the comfort break. But rather than reaching for a pack of cigarettes, almost all of them reached instead for a Blackberry or iPhone to check their email.

Hey, let’s face it, where would Demolition News be without an Internet-savvy audience?

But while demolition professionals have grasped email, the Internet and even social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, they have failed to keep pace with the anti-demolition lobby which is actively using the same mediums to delay and even prevent demolition.

Take, for example, the proposed demolition of the Mitchells brewery in Lancaster. As far as we can tell, a contractor has yet to be appointed for this contract. And yet, the anti-demolition and pro-conservation lobby has already mobilised both off and online and is making life difficult for the building’s owner, the local authority and the yet-to-be-appointed contractor.

Now I am not suggesting for one moment that demolition contractors go head-to-head with the conservationists in an online battle for the hearts and minds of the public.

But when was the last time you saw a pro-demolition website, blog or campaign that was not merely a veiled sales tool for a demolition contractor?

Some demolition companies – notably Safedem in Scotland – have highly sophisticated resident liaison procedures in place to keep local people informed of what to expect before, during and after a demolition contract; and it is an approach that has won plaudits from many of Safedem’s high-profile clients including the Glasgow Housing Association.

Yet, to the best of my knowledge, no contractor has yet taken that approach online where local residents and the often vocal NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) lobby often resides. As a result, the general public remains largely unaware of the safety procedures that demolition companies set in place; of the industry’s almost faultless recycling and salvage record.

And it can’t be time restraints or the prohibitive cost of an online presence that stands in the way. A blog – such as Demolition News or DemolishDismantle – can be set up in a matter of minutes; and the only cost is your time.

We’d love to hear your comments on this and, of course, if you’d like any help setting up your own “contract blog”, please just drop us a line.

Unnamed contractor could face prosecution over health and safety breaches.

An as-yet unnamed demolition contractor involved in the demolition of a derelict building on Mansfield’s Bellamy Road estate could face prosecution after major health and safety problems.

The eyesore Courtlands Social Club has been bulldozed over the last few weeks, but residents’ representative say the demolition ‘endangered everybody on the estate’.

Council chiefs say the building was knocked down without planning permission and the contractor involved ignored notices from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) barring the company from continuing the work.

Read the full story here.

Crews are said to be reading Owensboro’s Executive Inn for imminent implosion.

It was the subject of a bidding war. It was going to be dismantled, then imploded, then tripped. The demolition method was reportedly the subject of negotiations between the owner, the city, the demolition company, the explosives subcontractor and a TV company. But, if reports from ABC News 25 are to be believed, the Executive Inn in Owensboro is just a matter of days away from going out with a bang.

It will be a fitting end to a saga that has gripped the US demolition industry and kept the rest of us amused and entertained for what feels like forever.

Click here for further details.

The demolition of the Mitchell’s Brewery could be halted by the presence of bats.

I consider myself to be a right-minded animal lover. I am a practicing vegetarian, a regular contributor to the World Wildlife Fund and I am yet to meet a critter that I don’t like.

But there is something convenient and strangely predictable about the sudden discovery of bats in the former Mitchells Brewery building in Lancaster that had been slated for demolition.

Since the brewer announced plans to demolish its landmark building earlier this month, conservationists and local residents have staged a series of protests and initiated a campaign to prevent the demolition going ahead, suggesting that a conversion would be a more suitable option.

However, as the building is not listed, the owner was well within its rights to slate it for demolition. However, the discovery of bat roost could delay demolition plans for several months.

Click here for further details.

Demolition News is celebrating its 1,000th story with a contest to win 1,000 cups of tea.

US and mainland European readers of Demolition News can look away now; we’re about to talk about a subject that is close to the heart of all Brits yet remains anathema to the rest of the world. Tea.

The good ol’ British cuppa is an integral part of British daily life and as much a part of the UK demolition industry as hard hats, rubble and onerous legislation.

So what better way to celebrate the posting of Demolition News’ 1,000th story than with a nice cup – well, 1,000 cups to be precise – of fine, strong-tasting and FREE “Rosie Lee”.

To celebrate our 1,000th post, we are joining forces with the Make Mine a Builders tea brand and offering 1,000 free cups of tea to the winner of our new competition.

To enter, all you have to do is answer the following, simple question:

According to the Make Mine a Builders website, what is the optimum brewing time for a perfect cup of tea?

Send you answers to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the correct entries received. Closing date for entries is 1 November 2009.

Ohio house demolition contract let for 40% less than value five years ago.

Cast your mind back, if you will, to 2004. The New England Patriots are celebrating the winning of Super Bowl XXXVIII; Madrid has been rocked by coordinated terrorist attacks on its rail network; and Lance Armstrong has just won an unprecedented 6th Tour de France title.

Do you remember thinking to yourself: “Wow, I am making a profit of more than 40% on house demolition. Life is good and I love this business”? No?

Then how do we explain the fact that a contract has just been let that values each house demolition at $2,500 when the same job was valued at $4,300 per house just five years ago? Did we miss a meeting? Was there a radical cut in the cost of labor, insurance, fuel during that time?

I know we’re in the midst of a recession. I know work is scarce and margins are wafer-like. And I know that many contractors are working for peanuts, merely to pay their overheads.

But having set a precedent price of $2,500 for house demolition, how long will it take to wind that price back up again so the industry can actually make a profit?

My guess is five years, minimum. But I’d love to hear what you think; so please use the comments area below.

Chicago presses on with demolition works, despite failing to win Olympic bid.

Despite its failure to secure the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Chicago is pressing on with the demolition of the empty Michael Reese Hospital, the area once earmarked for an athletes’ village.

However, the demolition is not without its opponents. The site features eight buildings designed by Bauhaus pioneer Walter Gropius

Only one of the Gropius-designed blocks on the 29-building campus has managed to win a temporary reprieve; the 1950 Singer Pavilion which local authorities have singled out as a ‘potential candidate for redevelopment’.

Read the full story here.

Health and Safety Executive issues details of accidents and fatalities for 2008/09.

First the good news. The number of people killed or injured at work in the UK during 2008/09 shows a marked decline on previous years.

But before we all head for the pub for a celebratory (yet safe) drink, here’s the bad news. Construction accounted for more than a third of all work-related deaths, 53 in all.

Now as someone whose primary interest is demolition, it would be nice to sit back and smile smugly at the fact that my sector has a far better safety record; and that the demolition industry’s adoption of mechanization and improved methods have largely consigned accidents and fatalities to the history books.

Sadly, due to what is either a quirk of statistics or a concerted effort to up construction’s average, the accident and fatality stats for demolition remain inexplicably mired within the construction figures. So while figures from the National Federation of Demolition Contractors membership continue to show a marked decline in both reportable accidents and fatalities, the general public continues to believe that all hard hat-wearing workers share the same reduced-life-expectancy-cum-death-wish.

The fact is that demolition remains a hazardous industry in which to work, and dangers and risks are ever present.

However, thanks to a concerted and ongoing training offensive, the sensible use of equipment and the development and adoption of ever-better work practices, it continues to set an example to its cousins in the construction industry.