Demolition of a gas holder that has dominated the Southport skyline for more than 50 years.

The 85 metre-tall structure on Crowland Street is being brought down piece by piece and will be fully removed by the end of June.

Read the full story here.

A New York bridge is set for implosion later today and you can watch it live!

The 87-year old James A. Farley Memorial Bridge on New York’s Route 9W will be demolished by implosion between 6:30 and 7pm (UK) time (7.30 and 8pm central European time) today the state Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

The 109 metre long bridge, which traverses the Cedar Pond Brook and bisects the community, was built in 1922.

A live feed of the demolition can be viewed here at the appropriate time.

An interesting article on the benefits of social networking to construction professionals.

The very fact that you are reading this blog post suggests that, contrary to popular belief, demolition people ARE web savvy and DO use the Internet for more than merely watching YouTube videos of implosions.

And yet it is a constant source of frustration to me that so few members of our industry have yet grasped the marketing and educational benefits of online social networking. Take Facebook for example.

Facebook is now the world’s largest online social networking medium, with millions of people using it daily (and even hourly if the stats are to be believed). There are interest groups on Facebook for interests that, frankly, I have never even heard of. And there is also one for demolition.

Estimates suggest that the UK demolition industry employs somewhere in the region of 10,000 people. So how many do you think are a member of the demolition group? 100? 500?

No. The group has just 11 members, a paltry number when you consider that the industry is in recession and that social networking is now considered a key way of finding job opportunities.

Against this background, I would point you to this excellent blog post which, I believe, underlines the current and growing importance of social networking in today’s construction business.

I look forward to seeing you all on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc…

UK demolition contractor fined over fire at shopping centre.

Demolition contractor Keltbray Ltd has been ordered by the courts to pay over £35,000 in fines and prosecutions costs after an incident in August 2006.

Keltbray was principal contractor for the refurbishment of a retail unit within the Queensmere Shopping Centre in Slough and failed to ensure that all services were isolated before the sub-contractor cut through a live gas pipe causing a fire.

Read the full story here.

New video showing a variety of Komatsu excavators in demolition applications.

We have just received a new video showing a variety of Komatsu excavators working in a range of demolition applications. No major sales pitch; just really good footage – Enjoy.

Demolition of a pub in Ireland has uncovered the bones of up to 30 people.

Worker demolishing the site of a historic Waterford city pub have found skulls and bones belonging to up to 30 people.

Waterford gardaí were contacted yesterday morning by the construction company, Sisk, regarding the find at the former location of Egan’s Bar on Barronstrand Street.

Read the full story here.

Volvo Construction Equipment latest to report sales meltdown.

Volvo has become the latest construction and demolition equipment manufacturer to post a major decline in sales. According to UK trade magazine Contract Journal, the company has reported an operating loss of almost £117m following a 46% decline in sales over the first three months of the year.

Sales almost halved to £684m in the first quarter (£1.26bn) turning last year’s £109m profit and 8.6% operating margin into a £116.9m loss representing a -17.1% margin. At the end of March its order book (excluding and the acquired road machinery business) was 73% lower than a year ago.

Full story here.

The UK Treasury has issued a new consultation document to look at the definition of waste under its Landfill Tax scheme.

Less than a week after the UK Government fixed the annual price escalator on its Landfill Tax scheme at £8 per annum until 2013, the Treasury has issued a consultation document to look at the definition of what constitutes waste under the scheme. The document, entitled Modernising landfill tax legislation, cites last year’s Waste Recycling Group vs. HM Revenue & Customs case as a key driver for this change.

Full details of the story from online waste and recycling information portal MRW can be found here.

A UK demolition contractor has hit out at tax changes that could cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds.

David Lee yesterday began examining ways to move offshore in the wake of the chancellor’s imposition of a 50 per cent tax rate for high earners, writes the Financial Times’ Bob Sherwood. The founder and managing director of Lee Demolition, one of the UK’s largest demolition groups, which turns over £14m a year, is looking at a personal tax increase of “at least a couple of hundred grand”. Just two of his companies generated profits well in excess of £2m last year, he said.

“It’s just too much,” he told the FT. “We are not going to stand for it. We will have to look at ways of getting around it. We just think it is unbelievable that [the chancellor] can charge 50 per cent tax.”

Read the full story here.

Demolition work is underway to take down the fire-ravaged Empress Casino in Chicago.

Demolition crews have begun tearing down the pavilion building, part of Chicago’s Empress Casino, that was destroyed in a recent fire. The casino, which sits on barges in the Des Plaines River and was untouched by the fire, is expected to reopen in late June. But it will take anywhere from a year or more to rebuild the pavilion building that houses restaurants and shops.

The full story of the project can be found here while striking photos from the project can be viewed here.