Tinsley implosion attracts mixed reviews…

The controlled implosion of the twin cooling towers at Tinsley close to the M1 motorway at Sheffield in the UK met with mixed reviews after the first attempt failed to down the iconic landmarks.

To read the reviews, click these links:

http://tinyurl.com/55hve6

http://tinyurl.com/6oko22

JCB Underlines commitment to demolition


JCB has issued a brief but cool video highlighting their (growing) presence in the demolition and recycling sector.

Kings County Hospital demolition details

Just come across an interesting article on the demoliton of the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.

You can read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/62z2z8

Giving demolition a bad name…

Accidents happen in all industry sectors.   Unfortunately, when they happen in the demolition industry, they have a nasty habit of making it onto the front page of the trade press, thereby reinforcing the stereotype of demolition as an unsafe business as can be seen here: contract-journal

Demolition with environmental benefits…?

The stands come tumbling down…

The Rugby World Cup in 2011 may seem a long way off.   But as workers on the various London 2012 Olympic sites in London will testify, time waits for no man.   And so the stands at Auckland’s Eden Park rugby stadium have come tumbling down to make way for a new $NZ320 million venue to host the 2011 tournament.

More details here: http://www.rugbyheaven.co.nz/rugbyheaven/4647378a22775.html

National Recycling Awards – Deadline Looming…

The National Recycling Awards – the only gala event recognising and rewarding excellence in the waste and recycling community – are calling on companies in the construction sector to enter the Valpak Waste Minimisation Project of the Year category.

Widely recognised as the recycling industry’s benchmark, the National Recycling Awards have been celebrating best practice in the public and private sector for over a decade now, with 2008 marking their tenth anniversary.

The Valpak Waste Minimisation Project of the Year award is open to any organisation, business, community group or local authority that can show how waste has been minimised through a specific strategy, project or process. In particular, the judges will be looking for details of the waste minimisation initiative; data on tonnages and materials saved and why the project was a success.

Chair of the awards judging panel, Paul Sanderson said: “The construction industry is a major source of waste in England, using the highest tonnage of solid material resources in any sector.* Following on from the Government’s Waste Strategy for England 2007 to halve building and excavation waste going to landfill by 2012, many construction companies have started to identify ways in which they can improve resource efficiency and reduce waste. We urge these companies to enter the awards and look forward to a hard-fought competition in this category.”

Full entry guidelines can be found on www.nationalrecyclingawards.com and the closing date for entries is Friday 22 August 2008. The entries will be judged in September by a panel of industry professionals chaired by Paul Sanderson and the winners will be presented with their awards at a celebrity-hosted black-tie gala event at the Telford International Centre on 12 November 2008.

Implosion clears way for arena…

Developer fined over illegal Brisbane demolition…

EDA Conference in Istanbul…

The European Demolition Association (EDA) has released a provisional programme for its autumn conference to be held in Istanbul on 6th-8th November 2008. The venue will be the 5 star Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel, located in the heart of Istanbul (Taksim) with views to the Bosphorus and the old city, and the event will follow the format that proved successful in Rome – a series of presentations and round table discussions interspersed with short presentations from sponsors of the event.

D&Ri will report more fully on the programme nearer to the event and the new EDA secretariat will very shortly be sending out booking documentation and a final programme for delegates to book their attendance.

The draft programme for the event indicates that the opening presentation will be on the results of the questionnaire on high reach equipment circulated at the Rome event in May, with other topics on the first day looking at safety, training and education at a European level. The second day will open with a roundtable discussion concerning the various bodies around Europe that can issue safety certification with a view to gaining an overview of the various different standards currently being applied in the EU.

As usual for the EDA, there will be a full social programme for partners attending the event, with an informal dinner on the 7th November at the Flower Market, and a gala dinner on the 8th. This will be held in the Binbirdirek Cistern, which features 1001 columns. The cistern was built by the order of Philoksenos, (a Senate member in the Constantinus I period of the 4th century) under the Lausus Palace and located between Sultanahmet and Beyazit, just across from the Adalet Sarayi (Justice Palace).

For those that have never experienced the architectural delights on offer in the city, on the afternoon of the 8th November a visit has been organised to the spectacular Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (when entering the Blue Mosque, removal of shoes prior to stepping onto the carpets is a requirement, so beware holes in socks! On no account should shoes be put back on upon exit while standing on the carpeted area outside the doors).

Courtesy of Lindsay Gale, Editor, D&Ri – 30 July 2008