The pick of the speeches from the NFDC’s business meeting in Sardinia.

This time last week, the cream of the UK’s demolition industry gathered in Sardinia for the National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ 2010 Annual Convention.

In addition to enjoying all that the famous Forte Village has to offer, they also met for the Federation’s traditional half yearly business meeting where the likes of Mike Taylor – CEO of the US’ National Demolition Association – and Howard Button – CEO of the NFDC – provided a “state of the nation” address for both sides of the Atlantic.

Although the lighting was hardly conducive to video recording, we have gathered together the pick of the non-sponsor footage for you below:

2010 Convention Presentations from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.

Australian blasters put stranded animal out of its misery.

Question. There is a large humpback whale beached on a sandbank for two weeks and it is clear that the animal is no longer able to help itself and is, as a result, suffering. Do you (a) attempt to tow it into the water? (b) Deploy a marine crane to help free the beast? Or (c) call a team of blasters o put the animal out of its misery using something called a “cranial implosion”.

Well, if you’re an animal-loving Australian, option (c) is apparently the way to go, as evidenced by this story from the Vancouver Sun.

And there was us thinking a cranial implosion was that feeling we get in our head whenever we receive news of a blast gone awry or another excavator winding up in a basement.

Check out what just arrived at Demolition News Towers.

Here at Demolition News, it has long been our belief that we don’t receive enough free stuff. Sure, we have a few baseball caps kicking about the place, one or two excavator models, and maybe a few high visibility jackets which, ironically, we can’t spot right now; but nothing particularly original or unique.

Until today that is. Our post arrived, as usual, and as usual it contained a familiar collection of final demands, letters of complaint, threats of legal action for one slander or another. But there, lurking at the bottom of this unwelcome pile, was an envelope that had clearly started its journey in the US or A.

Setting aside any fear that it might contain a vengeful explosive device from a slighted US contractor, we tore open the package to find what we believe to be a unique item on these shores: A Demo Diva t-shirt.

Thankfully, our editor and founder Mark Anthony has been on (and remains on) a pretty severe (and long overdue) diet of late and that has allowed him to slip unaided into the medium-sized garment to model it for us. Setting aside the slightly smug look on his face, we grudgingly have to admit that the t-shirt does look rather good – Just as well as he assures us that he’s taking it to the EDA Conference in Sweden next week. (And our thanks to Demo Diva Simone Bruni for finally getting him to change his shirt!!)

D-Drill’s Julie White ascends to board of DSA.

Julie White, managing director of Shilton-based diamond drilling and sawing specialists D-Drill, has accepted a position on the board of directors of The Drilling and Sawing Association.

Julie says she feels that she can make a difference in an industry that continues to be male dominated. “It needs new people on the board and younger members who are rare in The Drilling and Sawing Association,” she says. “We need to prove to people that are not members that it is worth their while being part of the organisation.

Joel Vinsant, secretary of The Drilling and Sawing Association, says Julie fully deserves her position on the board. “Julie has been pro-active in the industry for a number of years and fully deserves her place on the board. We want the association to have new blood with people who have fresh ideas to take the association forward with different approaches and with Julie’s involvement we can only go from strength to strength,” he says. “She has been really enthusiastic about encouraging the two-year apprenticeship scheme we started six years ago which is vital to train the next generation in this specialist industry.

“It is important for people coming into this sphere to gain vocational and practical training and D-Drill has had 20 apprentices complete the course which highlights Julie’s commitment to providing her workforce with the best possible skills.”

The shortlist for the 2010 Demolition Awards features a strong Transatlantic field.

Within the past few minutes, the shortlist for the 2010 Demolition Awards has been announced. The contenders are as follows:

Contractor of the Year Award – American DND, Cantillon, Cuddy Group, EDS, Erith Group and General Smontaggi

Contract of the Year Award – Armac, Cuddy Group, Despe SpA, EDS, Lawson Demolition and NASDI

Explosive Demolition Award – AED, American DND/Controlled Demolition Inc, CAEM, Eurovia, Fabio Bruno and TDS

Industrial Demolition Award – City Demolition, Despe SpA, Erith Group, General Smontaggi, Lee Group, Montalbetti and R Baker

Urban Demolition Award – Despe SpA, Erith Group, General Smontaggi, Porr Umweitechnik, S G Loewendick and Schijf Group

Civils Demolition Award – Armac, City Demolition and Despe SpA

Demolition Safety Award – American DND/Controlled Demolition Inc, Cantillon, Despe SpA, Dorton Group, General Smontaggi, Lloyds Construction Services, O’Rourke Wrecking and R Baker & Son

Demolition Training Award – Cuddy Group, Despe SpA, Dorton Group, Erith Group, Maylarch and O’Rourke Wrecking

Environmental & Recycling Award – Cherry Demolition, Despe SpA, General Smontaggi, Interior Removal Specialists Inc and NKR Demolition

Innovation Award: Series – Caterpillar SARL, Komatsu, Liebherr, LST, Powerscreen, Sagro and Volvo Construction Equipment

Innovation Award: Custom – Kocurek/Volvo, Liebherr and Van Vliet

Customer Service/Support Award – Liebherr and Powerscreen

Having recently seen the new Caterpillar/Demlone DEM50 machine in action, we’re going to stick out our necks and predict a win for the equipment giant in the Innovation Award Series category. But we’d love to hear your predictions.

Exclusive new video gets up close and personal with this week’s Celotx plant implosion.

Earlier this week, we brought you some news footage capturing the final minutes of the two smokestacks and a boiler building at the Knight-Celotex Plant in Sunbury.

But now, thanks to John Koehler of Winchester Blasting Services Inc., the team behind the blast, we’re able to bring you some much more detailed footage of the blast that truly captures the synchronised fall of the stacks.

Thanks for the video John.

Crumbling steeple, collapsed wall and a near-miss mar Canadian church demolition.

Things did not go as planned at the former Methodist Episcopal Church.

The steeple of the church was supposed to have been removed, intact, before any more demolition took place at the 135-year-old brick church. That didn’t happen — it fell to pieces.

Even that procedure, though, was delayed as paperwork had to be retrieved from Belleville before the steeple could be removed.

It was far from intact when it eventually collapsed to the ground over lunch Wednesday after a failed attempt to hook a chain on it.

Moments later, Belleville demolition man Jim Sincalir tore into the back of the church with his high hoe and the back wall and roof then collapsed, even as an employee scrambled to get out of the remains of the tower.

Read more here.

Collapsing wall brings down power lines, snarls traffic.

A demolition project at the former Boyer Printing building in Pennsylvania came to a halt Tuesday afternoon when a portion of the front wall fell onto an electric pole, snapping it in half. No one was injured, said fire Commissioner Duane Trautman.

P.G. Martin Excavators of Lebanon is doing the demolition, which started in earnest on Monday, Trautman said. The building, on the southwest corner of the intersection, will be replaced with landscaping and off-street parking for an existing one-story office building and a 15,000-square-foot Albright Life Center eldercare facility that will open next year.

Tom Cahill watched the demolition from his used-furniture and appliance store on the northeast corner of the intersection. Shortly before 2:45 p.m., Cahill said, it appeared that crews, using a large piece of machinery, were trying to pull the roof toward the back of the three-story building.

But the roof fell forward, crashing into the side of the building and throwing bricks onto the electric line. That caused the pole to crack in half, Cahill said.

Read more here.

Prosecution says man forged his son’s signature on multiple fraudulent documents.

The 60-year-old general manager of a demolition company was sentenced to five years of formal probation and ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution for his guilty plea Tuesday to charges related to a multi-million dollar workers’ compensation and tax fraud scheme.

James Gregory Campbell of Lakewood pleaded guilty to making false or fraudulent statements to reduce insurance premiums, perjury, and making fraudulent statements to obtain or deny compensation, according to court records. Scores of other related charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement with prosecutors.

Deputy District Attorney Debbie Jackson dismissed all charges against Campbell’s son, Robert Scott Campbell, 27, of Bellevue, Wash., because investigators learned that his name was forged on multiple fraudulent documents.

James Campbell paid $100,000 in restitution today and agreed to pay $1,667 a month until he pays the other half, Jackson said. If he fails to do that he can expect to serve time in prison, the prosecutor added.

It will take the elder Campbell five years to pay the remainder of the restitution.

Read the full story here.

UK company wins major decommissioning and demolition project.

EDP, one of Europe’s major energy operators and the largest in Portugal, is set to begin a major decommissioning and demolition project with the help of UK-based specialist consulting engineers RVA Group.

The project will see a full site clearance of the energy group’s 7-hectare power plant in Barreiro, Portugal. The plant, which operated from 1977 to 2009, was EDP’s largest thermal cogeneration power plant and one of the oldest in the group’s extensive portfolio. The old oil-fired station has already been replaced by a modern CHP power plant on the same site, allowing the group to produce cleaner, more environmentally-friendly energy.

RVA, the UK’s leading expert in large scale decommissioning, decontamination, dismantling and demolition projects has helped EDP prepare a detailed project specification and tender documentation, and will play a key role in the contractor selection programme. Following the appointment of a contractor at the end of November, RVA is available to continue to work with EDP, providing specialist project management support and technical advice as required throughout the programme of works.

The project will include the demolition of several large structures compromising a 1,000m oil and steam pipeline, engine room, boiler, steam turbines, pumping station and two on-site reservoir tanks, each measuring 7,500m3.