WRAP unveils new tool to provide details of C&D waste recovery levels.

Waste management contractors and MRF operators working in the construction industry can now offer their clients complete transparency on the recovery rates achieved on their behalf, thanks to an innovative measurement tool being launched by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).

The freely available Site Specific Waste Analysis Tool (SSWAT) allows waste contractors to track each consignment of construction, demolition and excavation waste processed at their facilities, reporting exactly how – and in what quantities – the materials have been recovered. Historically, it has been rare for operators to offer customer-specific recycling information of this type, relying instead on monthly or quarterly figures based on total throughput.

Further information can be found here.

The new Demolition Digest blog post on high reach guidance is now live.

Our latest contribution to Construction Equipment’s superb blog area is now live and available to read.

Following a lively recent debate about the apparent reluctance of some US demolition contractors to adopt the use of high reach demolition excavators, we were somewhat surprised (but nonetheless proud) that the US’ National Demolition Association was about to adopt an Americanized version of the NFDC’s High Reach Guidance Notes on which we were a co-author.

To find out more, and to possibly secure yourself a copy of that original – and still unique – guidance, please visit the Demolition Digest.

We’ve just received notice that the new DemoBoys website is now LIVE!

We reported last week that the demolition business was about to get a fashion makeoever, thanks to the good people of DemoBoys and their new line of t-shirts. Well, after an extraordinary level of response both here in Europe and in the company’s native US, their website has just gone live.

Please go take a look (and keep checking back – I have it on pretty good authority that the company has some exciting new products planned for its Fall/Winter collection)

Birmingham-based Coleman & Co awarded New Street station contract.

A £2.7m contract to demolish part of a multi-storey car park as part of the redevelopment of Birmingham’s New Street station has been won, appropriately, by Birmingham-based Coleman & Co.

According to Transport Briefing, the company beat five other shortlisted firms to win the job, which involves demolition of a reinforced concrete car park and removing mechanical and electrical components along with non-structural elements such as lifts, escalators and offices.

Read the full story here.

California demolition company falls victim to $447,000 cyber crime.

The Washington Post reports that California-based Ferma Corp. was the victim of a $447,000 cyber crime in mid-July. Computer crooks stole the money by initiating a large batch of transfers from Ferma’s online bank account to 39 “money mules,” willing or unwitting accomplices who typically are ensnared via job search Web sites into bogus work-at-home schemes.

Ferma President Roy Ferrari said he learned of the fraud not from his bank but from a financial institution at which several of the mules had recently opened accounts.

Read the full story here.

Baltimore Development Corp terminates demolition contract awarded controversially.

Baltimore Development Corp BDC) has terminated a $1.5 million demolition contract that was to clear the way for a $112 million downtown redevelopment project called CityScape.

BDC President M.J. “Jay” Brodie said his agency awarded the demolition contract to Berg Corp. under a controversial policy it has decided to abandon. Instead of demolishing the properties, the city will sell the land to CityScape’s developers as is, with its buildings intact.

Read the ongoing story here.

Demolition in Amsterdam, New York prioritised following collapse of neglected building.

Last winter, the city of Amsterdam in Montgomery County, New York began a collaboration with the County’s demolition/asbestos abatement team and razed seven of the over 50 city-owned properties that were placed on the demolition list.

But, following an unscheduled collapse yesterday of a building that had been slated for demolition, city officials were forced to give the programme greater focus, as The Recorder reports.

Fast and cheap or slow and expensive? Yellowstone, you decide.

Yellowstone County Commissioners opened bids last week to demolish the DHL building on the space that will soon provide parking for Yellowstone County employees. The bids were surprising (though possibly not to regular readers of Demolition News) in their range from a high of $129,501 to a low of $39,748.

According to the Laurel Outlook article, the low bid was submitted by H. L. Ostermiller Construction, who committed to having the project demolition completed in 30 days. The high bid was received from C & S Construction, Billings, who committed to a 60-day completion date. Other bids were from Winkler Contractors, Roundup, for $57,495, 30 days; and Matriarch Construction, Laurel, $91,450, 45 days.

Now can I ask an idiot question here?

If speedy completion of a demolition project is a factor, more manpower and machinery is normally employed to get that job done more quickly, all of which costs money, right? So how is the lowest bid also the one with the shortest proposed contract duration?

Answers on a postcard (or in the comments area below) please.

Grant McKay Demolition uses Link Belt high reach on paper mill demolition.

Utah-based Grant McKay Demolition has used a 34 metre reach Link Belt LX 700 UHD excavator equipped with an Atlas Copco CC 3300 combi cutter attachment to tackle the demolition of a former paper mill in the Houston suburb of Sheldon, the company’s first foray into the state of Texas.

According to this Equipment Today report, the project involved the demolition of a bulding that covered an area of some 150,000 square metres, together with the deconstruction of a 30 metre high power plant.

Read the full story and see more photos here.