UK failed to transpose EU legislation into British law.

The European Commission has requested that the UK amend its regulations on asbestos at work because they do not comply fully with the parent EU Directive, reports Safety & Health Practitioner.

Delivered in the form of a reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures, the Commission wants the UK to change provisions in its legislation that exempt some maintenance and repair activities from the application of the EU Directive on the protection of workers from asbestos.

It follows a complaint received by the Commission that Article 3(3)(a) and (b) of the asbestos Directive 2009/148/EC has not been correctly transposed into UK law. Article 3(3) offers the possibility for an exemption from three obligations set out in the Directive for activities that involve only sporadic and low-intensity exposure to asbestos – for example, in the case of some maintenance and repair activities.

However, in the Commission’s view, the UK law omits specific parts of Article 3(3)(a) and (b), and so widens the scope of the exemption. The Commission says the UK legislation focuses on the measurement of exposure to asbestos but not enough on how the material can be affected by the work involved. The Directive deals with both exposure and the material.

The UK now has two months to bring its legislation into line with EU law, or risk the matter being referred to the EU’s Court of Justice.

Read more here.

Revealing failure to disclose “green demolition” option skews Newark bid process.

There is just so much wrong with this picture that we scarcely know where to begin. Of course, the most obvious shortcoming is the fact that low bidder Steve Roberts was planning to undertake the demolition of two buildings for less than the next nearest bid was planning to charge for two.

But that, apparently, is merely the tip of the iceberg. And the two-thirds that lurk just below the surface perhaps says more about the US demolition industry’s attitude to the environment than it does about the failings of the bid process.

A report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the reason for the disparity between the low bid and the other six bids on the shortlist was that the city knew the low-bidder planned to defer some if its cost by recycling brick and foundation stones, therefore minimising disposal costs.

“There was no indication that the city afforded the other bidders the same opportunity,” Jorgelle Lawson, director of the HUD Columbus field office’s Community Planning and Development Department wrote in the letter. “Based on this information, we believe this is a clear violation. … The city failed to provide all bidders with the fact they could use ‘green’ demolition. This failed to allow free and open competition.”

In the city’s 11 February response, it stated that the city did not require the “green demolition,” but the low bidder, Steve Roberts, opted for that form of disposal.

Did not require “green demolition”? In this day and age?

It is difficult to know just who is more at fault here: the city for failing to prescribe environmentally-sound disposal methods; or the demolition contractors for continuing to identify demolition arisings as a waste rather than a potentially valuable resource.

Compare that to the UK and other parts of Europe where it is not unusual for the demolition contractor to “buy” the demolition contract in order to access the valuable materials contained within a structure, and it’s clear that the US still has much to learn about what green demolition really means.

Read more here.

Ongoing clearance of Scottish skyline continues with latest implosion.

Greenock tower block Octavia Court was reduced to rubble in just a few seconds, demolished in a controlled explosion for River Clyde Homes at 2.30am today.

Around 10 kilogrammes of explosives placed at 500 points within the empty block of flats in Sinclair Street were enough to bring the structure down.

Crowds watched from Lady Octavia Park as the explosions boomed out across Greenock. River Clyde Homes said that the location of the building made it cheaper and more convenient to demolish with explosives although the operation had to take place overnight when trains weren’t running on the nearby Wemyss Bay railway line.

A large area around the flats had been sealed off and the residents of the nearest homes were put up in a hotel during preparations on Saturday.

Tower blocks branded eyesores by locals are finally being demolished.

Work began yesterday to pull down Bayley and Stoneycroft Towers, in Bromford, after a five-year delay.

Attempts by Birmingham City Council to demolish the 20-storey blocks have been frustrated by first, the recession, and then a family of peregrine falcons.

The council had finally secured the funds to demolish the blocks last year when they found two falcons had made a nest at the top of Bayley Tower and hatched four chicks. Demolition could not start until the birds flew off, which they did at the end of last year.

Read more here.

Proof that job of videographer is almost as hazardous as demolition.

Workers demolishing an old power house at the Hanford nuclear reservation used explosives to bring down five structures, including a pair of exhaust chimneys.

And, as the video below shows, it went with quite a bang.

Fears that premature demolition could prevent site sale.

Missouri state senator Clair Mccaskill has written to the US Treasury Department in an attempt to halt what she believes to be a premature demolition of the former Chrysler manufacturing plant in Fenton.

The site was acquired by Capstone Group when Chrysler fell into bankruptcy. Following several failed attempts to sell the facility as a going concern, Captsone has entered into a contract with MCM to demolish both the North and South plants.

However, Mccaskill says that her office has received several enquiries from companies interested in purchasing the North plant intact. And she is calling on the US Treasury Department to intervene.

In her letter, Mccaskill says: “Unlike the demolition of the South Plant, Capstone appears to have moved ahead with the contract on the North Plant before receiving approval of the County to demolish it.”

The letter concludes: “There are serious questions that need to be addressed. There is real interest in the North Plant from potential buyers. If the plant is demolished prematurely, it could affect the ability to bring good-paying, long-term manufacturing jobs to the region.”

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Excellent TV quality video captures demolition of America’s Showplace.

As work on the demolition of Philadelphia’s Spectrum Stadium draws to a close, CSN have put together a TV quality video that follows the process from the first strike of that too-small wrecking ball, through the controlled roof collapse, to the final deconstruction.

Explosive demolition will fell buildings that helped fuel US WWII arms race.

Five structures, some that have towered over central Hanford since World War II, are planned to come crashing to the ground today when explosives are detonated by CDI.

The tallest will be the two 76 metre (250-foot) exhaust chimneys at the 284 West Power House in central Hanford. Workers also will no longer see the 42 metre (140-foot) water tower there, with the “Work Safely” message that has greeted workers in the 200 West Area of central Hanford for years. In addition, two 27 metre (90-foot) air filter structures for the power house will come down.

The power house was built in 1943 as Hanford raced to produce plutonium for the world’s first atomic explosion and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, helping end World War II.

The power house, which was shut down in 1992, was used to produce steam for heating and power for buildings in the 200 West Area, ranging from office buildings to plutonium processing canyons.

During the early 1980s the air filter structures, called baghouses at Hanford, were added to reduce pollution coming out of the stacks.

“Given the sheer height of the structures, explosive demolition was selected as the safest method of demolition,” Kurt Kehler, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. vice president, said in a statement.

Read more here.

Major equipment investment signifies company’s intent.

Lee Group Ltd has embarked on a major upgrade of its demolition, recycling and earthmoving equipment.

Spearheading the procurement programme is a fleet of 25 Hitachi excavators including five high reach demolition machines. The high reach equipment includes two 70-tonne Zaxis 670s and a custom-made zero tail swing Zaxis 225.

In addition to these, Lee Group Ltd has purchased numerous conventional demolition excavators ranging in size between 13 tonnes and 55 tonnes. A handful of industrial shears, pulverisers, selector grapples and breaker attachments have also been procured to work in conjunction with the new excavators.

The company’s recycling capabilities have been expanded with the addition of two new mobile tracked crushers from Sandvik.

Contractor leaves developer in lurch after stripping site of steel and copper.

The city Code Enforcement Office has begun a process of fining property developer Daniel Siniawa $1,000 per day for alleged code violations at a complex near downtown Wilkes-Barre.

On 2 February, the city notified Siniawa of conditions on the site that were determined by the code office to be hazardous and unsafe, according to Drew McLaughlin, assistant to Leighton.

McLaughlin said the condition of the property has not improved since the violation notices were sent, so the fine process began on Monday. He said the fine process is not impacted by the scheduled meeting with Siniawa.

“There is a meeting about the status of the project under development,” McLaughlin said. “It is standard practice for the mayor and city officials to meet periodically with any developer of an ongoing project in the city.”

The complex is owned by Siniawa 16 LP, according to Luzerne County property records. Siniawa Investment Group, of which Daniel Siniawa is president, is a partner in the limited partnership, according to the state corporation bureau.

“I guess my reaction to the citations and fines is that the city should be informed of our plans,” Siniawa said. “Basically, the contractor we hired to demolish the building took off after he removed all of the steel and copper from the site. We are trying to get him back on the job to continue the cleanup, but I really don’t expect that to happen.”

Siniawa wouldn’t identify the contractor (although local newspaper archives suggest the building was demolished by L&S Recycling), but he did say he plans to clean up the site in the spring when the weather is better.

Read more here.