Our first Demolition Digest guest blog for Construction Equipment has just gone live.
We reported last week that we had been granted the opportunity to write a guest column for Construction Equipment, the US-based website of the world’s largest construction magazine. Well, just a few days on and our first offering has just gone live.
Please check it out here and let us (them) have your comments.
Great video on decommissioning process at Douneray nuclear facility in Scotland.
The plutonium criticality laboratory at Dounreay was once considered too contaminated to ever be demolished. Watch how a team of decommissioning experts cleaned it up and knocked it down.
This video is notable only for the fact that it was shot in the town of Sleepy Eye!
London 2012 Olympics are on target to exceed 90% C&D waste recycling target.
The clean-up of the 2.5 km2 Olympic Park, much of it contaminated through decades of industrial use, is almost complete and on track to beat its tough sustainability targets.
The cleaning and clearing of the Olympic Park utilised sustainable techniques to recycle and reuse over ninety per cent of the demolition material and eighty per cent of soil on site. This significantly reduced lorry journeys in the local area as only a minimal amount of contaminated material was taken to landfill sites.
As previously expected and announced industrial contamination on site included oil, petrol, tar, cyanide, arsenic and lead as well as some very low level radioactive material. In line with Environment Agency guidance a small amount of soil containing traces of this very low level radioactive material, classed as ‘exempt’ under current environmental law, has been safely buried in a cell under a bridge embankment on site. It is covered and capped on all sides. This safe disposal has been approved by the Environment Agency and the legacy landowner the London Development Agency and in no way poses a risk to the health of the workforce or public now or in the future.
Read the full story here.
A new t-shirt is the perfect compromise between job-site safe and office smart.
You know how it is. You’re not going to be meeting a client or attend any formal meetings, so the business suit can stay at home. And you’re not going to be spending too much time on site so the high visibility and protective workwear doesn’t really hit the mark either. So what does the well-dressed, off-duty demolition man wear?
Well, here at Demolition News, we’re eagerly awaiting delivery of a new “Demo Boys” t-shirt. Available in both long and short sleeve versions (priced at $25 and $20 respectively, excluding shipping), these 100% cotton t-shirts are available in small. medium, large and extra large sizes, all bearing the cool-looking Demo Boys logo.
To find out more, just drop an email to demoboys.mke@gmail.com marked for the attention of Jonathan and he’ll do the rest.
We’re sincerely hoping that, despite the imminent onset of Autumn, we will get an opportunity to pair the new Demo Boys t-shirt with our workwear kilt!
Demolition contract for pre-casino works awarded without public bidding.
At a time when US demolition contract bidding practices and pricing are under close scrutiny, one city has taken the bold step of bypassing the process altogether, awarding a contract without even going to open tender.
Baltimore officials awarded a demolition contract at the site of a proposed slots casino without public bidding, drawing concern from the city comptroller and the head of a contracting association.
Rather than advertise the work as required for most city projects, the Baltimore Development Corp., the city’s development arm, approached a handful of demolition firms and asked them to provide prices to knock down the Maryland Chemical building.
Read the full story here.
Demolition site signs should be clear and concise. But is this taking things too far?
Another day, another round of low bids on a US demolition contract.
For fear of appearing to be overly critical of US contractors’ pricing policies amidst the current recession, I shall post the following article from pressofatlanticcity.com without comment. I will allow readers to make up their own minds over whether this is a sign of an industry in good health:
“…When Millville sent the demolition of a blighted apartment complex out to bid, officials used comparable construction projects from the past few years to determine what they thought it should cost.
The city engineering department settled on an estimate of about $588,000 for clearing the 6-acre site and its 53 housing units. In all, 20 different companies submitted applications for the work.
Most contractors didn’t agree.
Assistant City Engineer Rich Jones said Tuesday that 15 of those applications came in under the city’s estimate. And not just a little under, either. Many of the bids came in well below the $500,000 mark, with two bids coming in at less than $300,000….”
Click here for the rest of the story, and please let us have your comments below.
Demolition works on San Francisco’s Bar Bridge delayed by unforeseen hitch.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that demolition work on the world famous Bay Bridge hit a temporary snag Friday, delaying the unprecedented aerial construction project by about five hours. But Caltrans officials still expect the span to reopen to traffic in time for Tuesday morning’s commute.
“The bridge has been a little stubborn,” Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said after crews missed the 1 p.m. target to start moving a 87 metre, 3,000 tonne section of the bridge’s east span.
Click here for the full story and to see a video update.
UXB experts develop system to convert Bobcat skid steer into a remote-controlled robot.
QinetiQ, a company more commonly associated with remotely-controlled equipment used to diffuse bombs and explosives, has developed a kit that can be installed in about 15 minutes on any of 17 models of Bobcat skid-steer, all-wheel steer, or compact track loaders that are equipped with the Selectable Joystick Controls (SJC) option.
This temporarily turns the loader into a remotely operated “robot” capable of using more than 37 Bobcat-approved attachments.
Click here for further details.
