Throwing a spotlight on European manufacturer’s inaction in the face of recession.

Later today, some of the leading names in the US construction equipment industry will gather at Soldier Fields in Chicago for the latest rally in support of the Start Us Up USA campaign that calls on the federal government to swiftly reauthorize federal road, bridge, transit and rail programs to spur a jobs recovery now.

This follows the campaign’s first high-profile rally in Las Vegas at the end of September.

But what of their European counterparts?

In our latest Demolition Digest blog post for constructionequipment.com, we look at precisely this point and question whether European Union members states can continue to use language and geographic barriers as an excuse for inaction.

Click here to read the full story.

Covert demolition makes hospital buildings disappear before tender process concludes.

Even as tenders for the demolition of nine blocks of the Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH), Tondiarpet, were to be finalised on Friday, the buildings had ‘disappeared’.

Evidently, some contractors with high connections had demolished the buildings. And nobody knows where huge quantities of teak wood and metal girders, which were part of the debris, have disappeared.

Only about 50 iron cots from CDH have reached the corporation workshop on Anna Pillai Street in Elephant Gate. When the matter was brought to his notice, Corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said he would order the vigilance department to inquire into the incident.

No registered contractor expressed knowledge about the persons who carried out the demolition or what happened to the materials that were part of the 50-year-old building. People in the know of things told TOI that the buildings had about 25 tonnes of teak and hundreds of tonnes of iron and steel girders. Most of the existing buildings have been demolished, save a small portion of a kitchen and a laboratory.

Further details here.

Huge bid spread marks Huey Elementary School contract.

It’s less than 24 hours since we highlighted concerns that continued low bidding could undermine a US economic recovery and have a negative impact on jobs. But according to a Wichita Falls newspaper, that concern had clearly not filtered down to Total Demolition and moany of the other bidders in the frame to demolish the former Huey Elementary School.

The demolition job that was budgeted for $140,000 will actually cost $84,000 — the best price out of 12 bids offered on the job. Because the price came in under $100,000, WFISD board members didn’t need to approve it, but were simply made aware in Monday’s regularly scheduled board meeting that the job was going to a De Valla, Texas, company called Total Demolition, Inc.

Bids offered by other companies from Wichita Falls to Houston ranged from $87,425 to $284,000 — a large spread that showed some companies were definitely more interested in the job than others, according to Richard Ward, bond projects coordinator.

Three bids came in under $100,000 and three bids ran over $200,000, with all the rest falling somewhere in between.

Read the full story here.

Wisonsin to outlaw waste arising from state projects over $5 million.

Beginning January 1, 2010, any state building construction or demolition project with a cost of at least $5 million must recycle any debris that’s generated.

The Department of Natural resources made the announcement after a trial period earlier this year where a number of state buildings were constructed with a recycling rate near 90-percent of better.

Read the full story here.

Condominium hit with excessive implosion insurance set to be dismantled instead.

After all the money spent on asbestos tests to ensure that 1515 in West Palm Beach could be safely imploded, it doesn’t look like there will be an implosion after all.

Last week, Trinity Development said that the city’s request for $50 million of insurance coverage to implode the 30-story eyesore was excessive.

Now, it looks like Trinity won’t give in. Officials from Trinity called the city today, asking what it would take to demolish the building with a conventional wrecking ball. Doug Wise of the city’s constructions service department said Trinity only needs to put the request in writing, which it could do tomorrow. A permit could then be issued in 48 hours.

Taking the hurricane-ravished building down by wrecking ball could take a month, instead of the two seconds it takes to implode.

Further details here.

Advanced Explosive Demolition in negotiation to implode Kentucky’s Executive Inn.

Demolition News understands that negotiations are continuing between explosive demolition specialist Advanced Explosive Demolition and Denney Excavating, the company charged with demolishing the Executive Inn in Owensboro.

Although details remain sketchy, we understand that Denney has given AED till tomorrow to decide which method to use. Apparently, AED is currently deciding between a straight implosion or “tripping“, a method the company has used with varying degrees of success in the past.

The news comes hot on the heels of concerns expressed over the level of debris that the contract will create, and its impact upon local landfill facilities.

Further news can be found here.

More than 500 delegates from Europe and the Middle East attend JCB Waste Day.

Waste and recycling specialists from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Hungary and the Middle East descended on JCB in Rocester, Staffordshire, over two days.

The centre piece of the two conferences was a keynote speech from Nick Herbert, MP, The Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Delegates were also given an update on new legislation facing the industry and the latest product launches from JCB for waste and recycling. Guests were also shown behind the scenes of the new £40 million JCB Heavy Products factory in Uttoxeter.

James Richardson, JCB’s General Manager for Waste, Recycling & Demolition said: “The sheer scale our 2009 Waste Days and breadth of information covered re-affirms JCB’s position at the forefront of this crucial sector. We have addressed the burning issues and legislation affecting the market, identified and demonstrated emerging industries and best practice from around the globe and showcased our industry-leading range of purpose built products for the sector. The interest shown from such a vast number of delegates demonstrates the value of these informative events.”

After the presentations, visitors watched a live demonstration of JCB Wastemaster machines involved in waste and recycling handling applications alongside a full range of processing equipment from other leading suppliers to the industry. The tasks re-created included: kerbside collection, wood waste processing, green waste composting, metals recycling, end of life vehicle disposal, WEEE operations, tyre recycling and aggregate recycling.

Contractors could bar HSE inspectors from entering sites under plans from the Tory party.

UK trade magazine Contract Journal reports that shadow business secretary Ken Clarke is vowing to curb the powers of the HSE by allowing firms to arrange their own externally audited safety inspections.

Construction companies passing the tests would then be able to refuse entry to HSE inspectors.

The system is similar to the “earned autonomy” scheme in America, which allows companies to earn immunity from official inspections by passing a strict set of safety standards.

Read the full story here.

PDI publishers launch DemCon, a new international demolition exhibition.

SCOP AB, the publisher behind the Professional Demolition International (PDI) magazine has announced that it is to host a new international demolition exhibition in its native Sweden in September 2010.

The show will take place at the business and exhibition centre InfraCity, located in the Stockholm suburb of Bredden between the city centre and Arlanda International Airport. The DEMCON show will take place on 9-10 September 2010 and will focus on demolition, concrete sawing and drilling, concrete floor preparation and polishing, clean air and recycling.

“What we mainly do is produce construction related magazines, including the magazine PDi. We organised the show in 1998 and 2000 and it was an instant success. Many in the demolition, recycling and concrete sawing industries have since asked when we are going to organise a similar show again. So in response to industry demand we will be back in 2010 with the new show DEMCON and I am really looking forward to it,” says S.C.O.P. AB President Jan Hermansson.

Further information on the new exhibition can be found here, while Facebook users can follow progress between now and September 2010 at the show’s own fan page here.

CNBC reports that low bidding on stimulus projects may stifle recovery and threaten jobs.

Contractors may be bidding themselves out of business for highway and infrastructure projects included in the U.S. economic stimulus plan, as they low-ball their proposals in hopes of winning much-needed work.

For now, bids have come in for as much as 30 percent less than what state agencies had projected and been welcomed as examples of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s success, as the federal government spends leftover funds on additional projects.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama said the low project costs, “means we can do more. We can create more jobs and launch more projects with every taxpayer dollar.”

That, in turn, could help realize Obama’s promise that the stimulus will create or save more than 3 million jobs, the bulk of them in a construction industry that has suffered tens of thousands of layoffs during a severe housing slump.

But the low bidding may have the opposite effect. Contractors could bid at such steep discounts that they are unable to cover the costs of completing projects.

Read the full story here.