Demolition of Welsh mine rescue station could be heading for the courts.

Legal action is being considered by Wrexham council over the “unauthorised demolition” of the town’s former Mines Rescue Station.

Key parts of the Grade-II listed building were destroyed on Friday, two days after it was awarded protected status by historic monuments body Cadw. Wrexham council said the maximum fine in such cases was £20,000 and/or six months imprisonment.

The owner, businessman Neville Dickens, has been unavailable for comment. It is understood Mr Dickens is on holiday and a spokesperson at his office said they did not know when he would be available.

He was granted planning permission three years ago to knock down the building and construct flats. However, some local people have been campaigning to save the 1913 building because of its historical significance.

It was listed by Cadw on 18 August after heavy machinery was used to demolish some of the most historically-important sections. Two days later the machines were back, and contractors continued demolition work.

Read the full story here.

Some locals missed the long-awaited implosion as crews blasted early in weather window.

There was still much talk yesterday about how Cape Town City Council bosses mistimed the demolition of the Athlone cooling towers on Sunday morning by nearly four minutes.

A number of spectators have complained that they missed the moment of the blast, which was meant to take place at noon.

The City’s Pieter Cronje has apologised and said those responsible for setting off the implosion did so because the weather conditions changed briefly.

“There was a break in the weather. We had drizzle; there was a big downpour and a thunderstorm coming along. The wind speed changed, which affects the implosion and the dust. So with all of those factors the blaster made the decision to blow when he did.”

Read more here.

Newly digitised footage captures final weeks of old Wembley Stadium.

It was a contract that will, perhaps, be remembered for all the wrong reasons; unfathomably late and over budget, the replacement of the 1923-built Wembley Stadium was an object lesson in gross mismanagement.

But as this newly-digitised footage recalls, the demolition of the stadium and the famous Twin Towers was one of the few aspects of the contract not beset with bureaucracy and unforeseen problems. Some of the soundtrack’s quite nice too:

Futuristic demolition method with a better-than-fairytale ending

As if bored by explosive and mechanical means, it seems that the demolition industry is constantly seeking new ways to bring down buildings and structures. Gather together demolition professionals from across the globe, and sooner or later someone will throw hydro-demolition, lasers and even microwaves into the conversation. But how many are aware of what can be done with a vortex cannon?

A vortex cannon, I hear you ask. What, pray, is a vortex cannon?

Well, the science is largely lost on us mere journalists, but this BBC video and it’s use of the Three Little Pigs storyline to demonstrate what a vortex ring can achieve certainly makes for compelling viewing:

The smokestacks that helped power the space race fell on Sunday.

While the eyes of much of the demolition and blasting world were turned towards Cape Town in South Africa for the long-awaited implosion of the Athlone Towers, Controlled Demolition Inc (CDI) was quietly going about its business (well, as quietly as explosive demolition can be) in Florida to fell a pair of Florida Power and Light smokestacks at the world-famous Cape Canaveral.

The stacks and the associated boilers powered the space race. But they also puffed soot and oily residue on cars, pitting paint and raising health concerns among local people. “We’ve been subsidising their profits with our health for years,” said Amy Tidd, a longtime power plant opponent. “It’s all about the money.”

But on Sunday morning, those fears were finally laid to rest as the two red-and-white stacks that towered 121 metres (397 feet) above the nearly half-century-old Cape Canaveral power plant fell in a controlled implosion.

Read more here or watch the video below.

Demolition works delayed by discovery of PCB contamination.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is taking oversight control of the demolition of the former General Motors plant. Anne E. Kelly, an EPA project manager, said her agency has ended negotiations with Motors Liquidation Corp. for a consent order detailing plans for work at the former GM Powertrain site.

“The EPA issued a unilateral order for the demolition and cleanup of the soils under the plant,” she said. “The order was signed by our office Wednesday night. Motors Liquidation has indicated the facility will be demolished, and EPA is now taking oversight of how that will be done.”

Ms. Kelly said the order includes oversight of the building’s decommissioning and the issue of its contaminated contents. She acknowledged that the recent finding of equipment with PCB contamination inside the former GM Powertrain facility likely will push the demolition schedule back.

“It will affect the schedule for demolition, but I’m not sure how that will impact the bid process,” she said. “This was not envisioned in the initial bid specifications. I don’t have a specific schedule.”

Read more here.

Human remains uncovered on Canadian demolition site.

Canadian police are investigating after a home demolition in Metro Vancouver turned up suspected human remains on Friday. The home, located in South Burnaby, was being torn down to make way for re-development when the startling discovery was made.

Forensic Identification Services and the BC Coroners Service attended the scene to inspect the remains. “Based on their initial assessment, it is believed the remains are human,” Staff Sgt. Robert Marks said in a release.

The cause of death has not been determined.

Read more here.

Cape Town came to watch as the Athlone Towers tumbled yesterday.

It is a story that we have followed for about a year now and which began with news that, following the failure of one of the rings, the Athlone Towers in Cape Town, South Africa would have to be demolished. And yesterday, that story came to a dramatic end with both towers coming down in a simultaneous implosion.

Needless to say, YouTube today is crammed with footage from this momentous blast but we have gathered together what we believe to be the pick of the bunch (so far):

Athlone Cooling Towers Demolition from Phillip Gibb on Vimeo.

Excellent video captures a pair of Hitachi high reach machines in action.

OK, so the interview section of the video is in German but the subtitles are English and, frankly, the pictures speak for themselves.

Cape Talk website set to broadcast Athlone Towers as it happens.

It’s been a long time coming but at noon on Sunday local time (11 am GMT), Cape Town’s Athlone Towers will finally fall in a controlled implosion.

Obviously, we would love to be there but budget constraints and a lack of invitation has prevented this so instead we will be taking front-row seats to watch the event live on DemolitionNews.com’s brand-new iPad.

The implosion is being broadcast live here and will subsequently be broadcast on 567 CapeTalk here.

Of course, we will endeavour to bring you all the footage here on DemolitionNews.com just as soon as we can find a suitable source of embeddable video.