National Federation on Demolition Contractors looks North with its second Demolition Day.
Following the success of its inaugural Demolition Day conference and exhibition in London last month, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors is taking its show on the road and heading for Manchester’s Lowry Theatre on 11 May 2011 for Demolition Day 2.
The Federation has this afternoon released the agenda for the second event, which can be found here.
UK contractor helps rescue roof of local landmark.
Following the recent announcement by Swindon Borough Council that it was stepping in to save the unsafe roof of the former Mechanics Institute in the town, local demolition specialist Lawson Group was drafted in to rescue the roof of the local landmark building before it collapsed completely.
Lawson Demolition deployed a team of operatives to carefully dismantle the unsafe part of the roof by hand, whilst preserving the Grade II listed façade of the building by erecting a façade retention scaffold, and forming a cut line to keep the safe part of the roof from falling in.
Traffic around the historic site had to be diverted as Lawson Demolition employed the use of an 85 and a 50 tonne crane for access and removal of materials from the roof. The operatives removed the temporary roof covering and damaged roof timbers whilst the stability of the building was monitored by council approved surveyors. Lawson Demolition completed works on the site when the roof was declared safe following the complex and detailed work carried out.
Spectrum demolition gets off to slow start as wrecking balls fails to make an impact.
It’s been a long time coming and was heralded by widespread media coverage. But when demolition work finally got underway at Philadelphia’s Spectrum stadium, it was something of a damp squib as the wrecking ball had about as much impact as a toffee hammer on a battleship.
Still, at least it’s an excuse to hear Bruce Springsteen sing Wrecking Ball again:
Philadelphia says last goodbye to sports arena before demolition begins.
Demolition is scheduled to begin Tuesday on the Spectrum, which hosted more than 40 years of professional sports and entertainment.
A four-ton wrecking ball will strike the Spectrum around noon. Many spectators are expected to watch the Spectrum’s demise, including some of the sports legends who played there.
Philadelphia sports greats “Doctor J” Julius Erving, Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent will be there for a special ceremony. The Spectrum, of course, is the former home of the Flyers and 76ers, which long ago moved to a more modern facility next door now known as the Wells Fargo Center.
However, the Spectrum continued to host entertainment events and minor league hockey until last year. The rock group Pearl Jam played the last show there on Oct. 31, 2009.
The arena is being demolished to make way for a retail, restaurant and entertainment complex.
Read more here or watch the FoxPhilly video below:
Video footage of Canberra bridge implosion.
City officials said that the implosion of an Australian road bridge was “not a public spectacle“, but that didn’t prevent local TV news crews from turning up to capture some footage of the demolition this weekend.
A look back at an edition of Demolition & Dismantling magazine from 30 years ago.
For such a forward-looking industry, demolition seems to have an incredible affinity with the past, a fact highlighted by the popularity of our previous Nostalgia Corner magazine and video posts.
So we thought it was about time we brought you another blast from the past, this time in the form of an edition of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ Demolition & Dismantling magazine from the spring of 1980. Among the highlights of this edition is a celebration of the first anniversary of the Demolition Training Group and the ubiquitous semi-naked woman on the front cover.
So grab yourselves a coffee and take a trip down memory lane.
Exclusive video of John Woodward’s first speech as IDE president.
On Friday 19 November, John Woodward took over the reins of the Institute of Demolition Engineers. In this exclusive video, we bring you Woodward’s inaugural presidential address:
Inaugural IDE presidential address from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.
City official that barred contractor for being two minutes late is our latest winner.
As a career journalist, I understand better than most that a deadline is a deadline. But when a demolition contractor loses out on a contract for being two minutes late, and when that tardiness is then proven by affidavits from city officials, then we believe it’s our duty to award such over-zealousness with a (not so) coveted Jobsworth Mug.
City officials hope the First Baptist Church demolition project finally will begin after the latest delay – a lawsuit brought by a contractor that lost the project because its bid was minutes late – was dismissed by a judge. State Supreme Court Judge Richard T. Aulisi ruled Thursday to dismiss the request by Dan’s Hauling & Demo of Rensselaer County that he issue an injunction on the demolition.
The company claimed through its Oswego-based attorney, Kimberly A. Steele, that its representative had arrived at City Hall to hand in the company’s bid at 1 p.m. according to the person’s cell phone. But affidavits from people at City Hall maintained the person had arrived in the parking lot at 1:01 p.m. The bid was time-stamped 1:02 p.m. The deadline was 1 p.m.
The Common Council unanimously approved a $499,400 bid by Stamford Wrecking of Trumbull, Conn., on Oct. 12. A state grant awarded in 2008 for about $434,000 will cover most of the cost.
Read more here.
TV news team misses bridge implosion.
In an age of instant entertainment gratification, it appears that TV companies have developed the attention span of a goldfish with ADHD. And that was certainly the case with this TV news programme which spent three minutes focusing on a bridge that was about to be imploded, only to break for the weather just as someone pressed the button.
Timing, as they say, is everything.
Interview with the new president of the Institute of Demolition Engineers.
In the interests of disclosure and objectivity, let me state for the record that John Woodward, the new president of the Institute of Demolition Engineers, is a friend of mine. He was the inspiration behind the creation of DemolitionNews.com, has been an almost constant companion as we have travelled the world to bring you the latest in demolition news, and the following video was actually shot at John’s house where both myself and Mrs DemolitionNews.com were staying for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of good food and bad football with John and his lovely wife Jill.
That said, the following video interview – the first since Woodward’s ascension to the top of the IDE tree earlier today – was not designed to be an easy ride. The fact that the IDE is often seen as the poor relation to the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, and the fact that Woodward is a consultant heading up the world’s only professional demolition institute are both covered in an insightful and entertaining interview, as is Woodward’s high public profile and his unique dress sense.
We hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed putting it together and wish President Woodward and First Lady Jill the very best in their new roles.
