UK Caterpillar dealer launches new training programme designed to reduce fuel consumption.

UK Caterpillar dealer has today unveiled its industry first ‘Eco-Drive’ training programme, focused on delivering significant fuel cost savings of up to 10 – 15% to plant and equipment users across the UK. Open to all operators of excavators, wheel loaders, off-highway and articulated trucks, the one day instructor-led course is designed to highlight best practice operating techniques that influence and contribute to a more fuel efficient machine operation.

With a variety of courses available, some of which include hands-on participation where operators can practice new techniques and learn new skills, the programme will welcome its first participants on May 19th 2009 at Caterpillar’s state-of-the-art facility in Desford, Leicester.

Operators taking the practical participation module will also be able to see their impact on fuel consumption in real-time, with fuel burn and productivity results made available thanks to the use of onboard monitoring.

For every participant on the course, Finning trainers will develop a personal improvement action plan that is tailored to the skill sets of the individual, with an aim of developing them into a more fuel efficient operator. Prices for the course start from £150 per person for customer group training at the Caterpillar visitor centre in Desford, Leicester.

Commenting on the launch of Eco-Drive, John Vardy – Finning General Manager Product Support said: “It is not often as an industry you have the chance to make significant cost savings on a vast scale. The figures themselves are staggering, running into the millions of pounds of potential industry fuel savings in what are very challenging times.

“With fuel being one of the biggest variable costs any plant manager has to contend with, if your operator could save you up to 10% or even higher in fuel costs, for no loss of productivity, investing in their skills can deliver the biggest return on investment ever!

“The best thing for operators is that this is a real “can do” and people attending the course can literally see the impact of bad practice and the direct benefits of best practice, right in front of their eyes, thanks to the use of new remote monitoring technology.

Steve Platt – Finning Customer Account Development Manager added: “Our customers that have already taken part in our Eco–Drive pilot programmes have been amazed at how simple minor changes can help reduce fuel consumption. Ultimately with Eco-Drive everyone wins, including the environment.”

Talking about a two day pilot course Finning recently delivered to Tarmac Northern, Simon Phillips, Regional Director for Tarmac Northern said: “We have set ourselves a fuel burn reduction target by site. The last few days have confirmed that this is achievable. The operators are seeing that for themselves and will be able to take their learning’s back to site to deliver the results we have seen at the Eco- Drive training”

With a range of course dates already scheduled for group training at Caterpillar Desford, (May 19th to 21st, July 14th to 16th, September 22nd to 24th, November 24th to 26th) places on the courses for up to 20 people, will be arranged on a first come first served basis.

For customers interested in booking group training, customer site training, or special one to one site level training, simply contact the Training Department team at Finning on 01543 461526

For further information on the course content, dates and options contact Finning on 01543 461526 or visit www.finning.co.uk and click onto the ‘Careers and Training’ tab and select ‘Training and Development’ and the Eco-Drive link.

Video shows last moments of the Pomeroy-Mason bridge as it’s dropped into the Ohio River.

It has taken us all day to find an embeddable video of the Pomeroy-Mason bridge implosion that took place earlier today; but it was worth the wait, if only for the reaction of the crowd in the foreground when the sound-wave finally arrives.

Caterpillar has announced its first loss in 17 years.

UK trade magazine is reporting that US construction equipment giant Caterpillar has posted its first loss in 17 years with first quarter figures showing a £76.8 million loss compared to a £632 million profit in the same period last year.

Read the full story here.

A copy of the Caterpillar report can be found here.

A new online initiative encourages re-use of construction “waste”.

BuilderScrap is an exciting new initiative for the construction trade. Designed by builders for builders, the online business offers an alternative to landfill for the millions of tonnes of unused new supplies and good quality second hand materials which are thrown away each year. This is estimated to be over 11.5 million tonnes a year.

BuilderScrap.com is a free, easy to use website for the construction industry. It allows members to pass on any unused, surplus materials to others within the trade, therefore reducing the need for as many skips. BuilderScrap aims to lower the amount of waste which is unnecessarily sent to landfill every year.

The idea behind the website is extremely simple. Users can add their surplus, unused materials, as well as good quality second hand products to the website. Other users can then search for and purchase these materials. Often these items are given away free of charge. The reasoning behind this being that the client has already paid for them and they cost money to both store and throw away. The benefits of the website include:

• Cost savings – skip hire and the labour to load it
• Environmental benefits – less sent to landfill and less energy to create new product
• CSR – clients are placing increased pressure on their suppliers to be green and by using BuilderScrap you can demonstrate your green credentials

BuilderScrap has been designed by builder, for builders, and as such takes into consideration many of the issues prevalent in the industry which could affect the use of the website. The major concern is time, which is why there are two methods of upload available to users of the website.

Users can add their surplus materials to the website either online or by using their mobile phone to send an MMS message. The website is completely free to use. The only cost is the optional use of MMS, which costs 50p plus standard network charges.

The website can be used to pass on surplus, unused materials or good quality second hand products. Examples of items which have been put on BuilderScrap include bricks, timber, tiles, carpet, furniture, windows and kitchen units.

The website also includes a constantly updating source of a variety of relevant and useful information relating to the environment and the construction industry, such as environmental policies, Site Waste Management Plans and Legal requirements.

BuilderScrap, although still in its infancy, has been met with great interest and approval by those in and related to the industry. In November, BuilderScrap were very proud to receive the Green Apple Award, presented at The House of Commons for businesses excelling in an environmental capacity.

US contractor Nuprecon brought its wrecking ball out of retirement to tackle a unique project.

Nuprecon recently used old-school technology to bring down an old-school building at Paradise on Mount Rainier National Park. Instead of remote-controlled robots or excavators equipped with processing shears, the Snoqualmie-based contractor resorted to a wrecking ball to take out part of the aging Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center.

The 6,000 square metre, flying-saucer-like building has given visitors 360-degree views of the mountain and the surrounding landscape since 1966. But it had a flat concrete roof that had to be heated to keep snow from piling on. Heating the interior and the roof required as much as 1,800 litres of diesel a day.

Shawn Smith of Nuprecon said the wrecking ball was used on the top ring portion because of its height and the tight site. Track hoes equipped with concrete processors tore apart the two lower levels.

“It’s not a preferred mean or method for us, but there are some ways it’s the most prudent method to go,” Smith said. “It’s time-consuming and arduous. It’s yesterday’s technology.” Nuprecon used a wrecking ball on a job last year in Portland, but the ball had been idle for five years before that, he said.

Nuprecon is working as a subcontractor to CMEC on the Rainier job, which included asbestos abatement and site work such as underground tank removal and some soil remediation.
Smith said a 19,000 litre capacity fuel tank was pulled from three metres of soil last week and now the site has been shut down for the winter because of snow. Crews will return in the spring to crush the concrete debris, which will be stored on-site and used for future National Park Service projects.

Smith said the biggest challenge has been the remote location. “It’s hard to co-ordinate work because there is no cell phone service there,” he says. “We tried using a satellite phone, but that didn’t work either. Communication was coordinated through a pay phone in a nearby parking lot.”
Another big factor has been the weather. “We’d get there one day and there would be 2 feet of snow and then it would melt by the end of the day,” Smith concludes. “That made it tough for equipment operations to sift through the debris.”

The April 2009 edition of Professional Demolition International is out now.

UK legislation on empty property is bad news for almost everyone EXCEPT the demolition industry.

The UK Government’s Empty Property Rates (EPR) legislation has resigned England and Wales to a continued boom bust commercial property cycle; delivering property shortage and stifling regeneration and investment, an industry survey has revealed.

Published today, the Empty Property Rates Survey, by national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), is the first research into the controversial Government policy 12 months after its introduction.

LSH Director of Rating, Richard Wackett, said: “The industry believes that the demolition of property will increase significantly in coming months as the recessional plight of business is exacerbated by growing EPR debts.

“Many property owners are now left with no option but to demolish buildings that are sitting empty – generating large EPR bills, but no income. This will leave the commercial property market with a shortage of stock when demand picks up.

“It is clear that the property sector wants immediate change from the Government, including a substantial increase in the relief available for owners of non domestic buildings, particularly given the current state of the market. Indeed the Pre Budget Report acknowledged the need for support, albeit limited, with the temporary exclusion from rate liability of non domestic properties with Rateable Values below £15,000 for 2009/10”.

The consensus of more than 600 property professionals, who participated in the LSH and RICS survey, is that the Government’s overarching objective to provide an incentive for owners to return vacant buildings to use to the benefit of occupiers – has been highly unsuccessful.

Richard said: “The Government’s EPR policy has failed. 85% of professionals surveyed within the Empty Property Rates Survey Report fear that EPR is negatively impacting on the regeneration of towns and cities. A key concern is that 92% state that EPR policy deters speculative development – exactly the activity that is needed to rejuvenate Brownfield sites.”

The survey presents the following findings:

– 78% of participants believe EPR has exacerbated the present financial difficulty of property firms and occupiers.
– 83% of participants state that EPR has reduced property values
– 88% of participants argue EPR has deterred investment in industrial property specifically (given longer average vacancy rates).
– 85% of participants argue the EPR liability is the single biggest factor for the demolition of buildings at present.
– 43% of buildings being demolished would deliver rental income of £50-250,000 if let.
– 73% of participants have reviewed their property portfolios as a direct consequence of the removal of EPR relief.

A Scottish demolition contractor has purchased a gold JCB as an anti-recession talisman.

Scottish demolition contractor Alan Beattie is proving he has the Midas touch when it comes to beating the recession by buying a £50,000 JCB and having it painted gold.

Alan, who has been in business for 40 years and has the honorary title Lord of the Manor of Oversley, purchased the top-of-the range backhoe loader 4CX to show he is bucking the trend of the economic slump and to demonstrate his confidence in the “best of British” manufacturing. The gilt-edged finish – which replaces the traditional yellow and black livery synonymous with the world famous machine – should have cost him an extra £4,500 but local dealer Scot JCB decided to do the work for no extra charge.

It took three weeks for a craftsman at the dealer’s Glasgow depot to complete the job and also inscribe the vehicle with two slogans: “The Gold Digger” and “Beattie’s The Best”. The backhoe loader is the 18th new JCB Alan has purchased since he started his business, A and J Demolition, during the late 1960s.

Larger-than-life Alan says he is thrilled with his gold digger and the 24-carat service he receives from Scot JCB. He said: “I feel extremely proud to be British when I look at this great machine built by one of Britain’s best companies. It is a great work of art which should be celebrated.

“Although the gold JCB may look like a status symbol there is a serious message in it. It’s my belief that 90 per cent of this recession is about a lack of confidence, but business must not give in to it under any circumstances. Customer loyalty is extremely important during a recession but so is equipment reliability, and I’m glad to say I have never had one of my JCBs break down or let me down in all the years I have been using them. I bought my first JCB when I was about 15 and I am nearly 65 now and they have been an integral part of my working life.”

And he added: “I see my new golden JCB as a talisman of hope for the future and to show people you can buck the trend and there is work out there if you demonstrate quality and professionalism. I haven’t given in to past recessions and I have no intention of giving into this one.”

Unexploded ordnance discovered in imploded building.

Demolition crews responsible for the destruction of Building 82 in Charleston, West Virginia in the US left unexploded ordnance behind after they imploded the building on March 28. The South Charleston landmark, the former headquarters for Union Carbide, was blown up in a public ceremony to pave the way for development by the University of Charleston.

However, Sgt. Keith Vititoe, head of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad, said firefighters and other emergency responders on a training exercise immediately following the destruction of the building found unexploded charges inside.

Full details of the story can be found here.

New figures from the US suggest that less than half of arisings are recycled.

Just a few days ago, we reported on the fact that a UK contractor had almost achieved a 100% rate of materials recycling on a project in Scotland. Compare that to the latest statistics from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which suggest that less than half of all the US’ 170 million tonnes/year arisings are recycled.

New EPA figures show that the US increased its output of debris from construction and demolition debris by 25 percent from 1996 to 2003, while also recovering 48 percent of this waste.

The data is viewed as an estimate because only eight states release both their disposal and recovery data for construction materials.

It is true that the recovery rate was just 25 percent in 1996, meaning although the US is producing more of this waste, there are increased efforts to reuse and recycle these materials. However, it appears that the US still has a long way to go before it catches up with its greener European counterparts on this side of the Atlantic.