I am becoming almost as tired writing about this as I am sure you are reading about it. But another day has brought another suicidally low winning bid for a contract to demolish the Riverfront Prison in Camden, New Jersey.

However, this one is even more worthy of reporting, partly for the sheer magnitude of the difference between local officials’ estimates and the winning bid price, but also because the winning bid came not from a fly-by-night landscaping contractor with a sideline in demolition but from one of the world’s biggest demolition companies; Brandenburg Industrial Service Co.

Philly.com reports that local client Delaware River Port Authority had set aside some $6 million for the demolition works. Brandenburg was the lowest of the 23 bids (yes 23) received at just $1.25 million. Even the highest bid, from local contractor W. Hargrove Demolition of Camden came inside the original estimate by $1.1 million.

This is just the latest example of the US demolition industry’s “race to the bottom” which has seen similarly low bid-to-estimate prices on contracts including the Executive Inn in Kentucky, the Texas Stadium in Dallas and yesterday’s wastewater treatment plant in Florida.

Sadly, I am not privvy to the inner machinations of the National Demolition Association. But surely the time has come for the NDA to take a stand and to advise its members of the perils of this seemingly suicidal course of action.

Several fire crews were last night working to contain a fire caused when routine welding or hot cutting works at a demolition company’s headquarters resulted in an explosion that left one worker severely burned.

Initial reports suggest that the worker set off a series of explosions that nearly destroyed the company. The man had to be airlifted to the hospital shortly after 11:00 a.m. when the explosions tore through the Robles Demolition company.

Read further details and see a video of the resulting fire here.

We are beginning to suspect that someone has circulated a memo to US demolition contractors that advises them to abandon all common sense and business acumen during the current recession, and merely submit bid prices that verge on lunacy.

What other explanation can there be when a contract to demolish a wastewater plant (and is it only me that’s intrigued by the fact that the spokesman is a Mr J. Christ?) in Palm City, Florida with an estimated value of $200,000 has been won with a bid of just $60,000.

It’s true that President Obama’s much-vaunted stimulus package has yet to bear fruit among the demolition fraternity.   Buch such suicidal pricing is surely the worst kind of short-termism.   And it is likely that the low prices set to win much-needed work today will be expected by clients long after the cloud of recession has lifted.

The National Demolition Association’s chief executive Mike Taylor was a guest speaker at the National Federation of Demolition Contractors 2009 Annual Convention. During the presentation, Taylor highlighted:

• That around 7,000 of the US demolition sector’s 22,000 employees are currently unemployed

• That President Obama’s stimulus package had yet to have any significant impact

• That the NDA is concerned at the training of future generations of demolition contractors

• That NDA members are looking overseas for new work opportunities

• And that the NDA is about to adopt the NFDC’s guidance notes on high reach excavators and track mounted mobile crushers (a subject we plan to address in more depth soon).

Mike Taylor (left) and Ray Passeno

So when we bumped into NDA chief executive Mike Taylor and president Ray Passeno at the 2009 Convention of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (which took place this past weekend in Killarney, Ireland) we took the opportunity to record this exclusive audio podcast interview with them.

Click here for the full story.

Click here for the full story.

Full story here.