Stoke council suspends six officers over demolition tender process.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has suspended six regeneration officers as part of an inquiry into its tendering process for demolition work.

The local authority is being helped by the Audit Commission, which has taken away a number of documents relating to the investigation.

Additionally, police have made one arrest following complaints about the council’s approach to demolition procurement.

The six suspended officers all work for the council’s Regeneration Directorate.

Read more here.

Council seeks to curb anti-social behaviour with demolition within conservation area.

The local authority-owned blocks won architectural awards when they were built in the 1960s but are now said to be out of keeping with the character of the 17th and 18th century conservation area. The buildings in McDouall Stuart Place, High Street and Howard Place in Fife are largely boarded up and have become rat-infested and a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

Local councillors have said they would be relieved to see the five blocks demolished but because they are in a conservation area permission must be given by Historic Scotland, who normally insist on plans for replacement housing being in place first.

However, the council has revealed that, due to the economic climate and the ongoing regeneration of Dysart, it has not yet been possible to come up with a detailed alternative — but modest environmental improvements such as grassed and paved areas would be carried out in the meantime.

Read more here.

Video highlights why the demolition industry will always have accidents.

How stupid can one man be? Well, coming from a man who has been known to sport a kilt for no apparent reason, that’s a good question.

But someone performing demolition on a clearly unstable floor by jumping on it? That would be pretty stupid. To do that with no visible means of support? That would be really stupid. To do both of these things with no personal protective equipment whatsoever? That would veer into incredibly stupid territory. But to then have your friend film all of this AND post it on YouTube is truly the work of a certifiable lunatic.

Welcome to the world of unregulated demolition:

Water tower demolition project of special interest to DemolitionNews.com.

Under normal circumstances, the proposed demolition of a 100-year old water tower in a Surrey backwater probably wouldn’t make it onto DemolitionNews.com. But when that Surrey backwater is, in fact, our own backyard and the tower in question can be seen from Demolition News Towers, then our interest is suddenly piqued.

According to the Epsom Guardian newspaper, London and Quadrant (L&Q) Housing Association, which owns the 12-storey Horton Water Tower, in Cavendish Walk, Epsom, has appointed a planning consultant to investigate whether it can tear down the controversial building and replace it with plants and trees.

Project co-ordinator Lorna Miller told councillors a questionnare to nearby residents found that demolition was “by far the most favourable option”, although some have argued it should remain untouched because of its history and character.

Read more here.

Excavator modifier hosts open day for demolition operative trainees.

Eight students from The National Construction College at Bircham Newton have just spent the day on the Kocurek factory floor learning the processes and technique’s employed in converting hydraulic excavators into high reach demolition machines.

The visit was part of the demolition operative apprenticeship programme that gives students a unique insight into the manufacture and operation of demolition machines.

The students were: Adam Gadie, CLS Demolition; Sean Welsh and Ryan Redmond of J. Bryan (Victoria) Ltd; Steven Wray, Armac Demolition; Liam O’Brien of G. O’ Brien; Kyle Coleman, KDC Demolition; Travis Noblett, JP Demolition; and Cameron Peel, W&M Thompson (Earthworks) Ltd.

Read more here.

O’Devaney flats set to falls as regeneration programme restarts.

Plans are finally afoot for the demolition of the O’Devaney Gardens’ flat blocks that formed part of one of the city’s major regeneration schemes which collapsed in 2008 when property developer Bernard McNamara pulled out of the proposed e180 million social housing scheme.

Demolition of five of the notoriously dilapidated blocks is due to take place in December or January. The move is being hailed as a “step in the right direction” by the many who have waited almost 15 years for the long-promised regeneration to take place.

Dublin City Council is in the process of finalising arrangements for the demolition of the five of the flat blocks in the Dublin 7 development.

A silver lining to the collapse of the regeneration is in that the new masterplan for the complex is “superior in quality than the original proposals”, according to local councillor Emer Costello (Lab).
“It will certainly be a better quality development with more thought and planning going in to what the development needs,” she told Northside People.

“It is encouraging to see progress on the O’Devaney Gardens Regeneration Project and fixing a date for the demolition will mark a major milestone in the project.

“However, it is over two years since the McNamara Regeneration Project collapsed in May 2008 and it is still very difficult for the more than 80 families living in O’Devaney who have been waiting over 15 years for the long-promised regeneration to take place.”

Dublin City Council has given notice that it intends to initiate the process for the demolition of five existing flat blocks incorporating almost 80 flats.

Read the full story here.

DemolitionNews.com proudly brings you the second ever issue of Euro Demolition News.

Daily Mail photographs highlight magnitude of dismantling task.

More than two years after the Beijing Olympic Games ended, workers today began removing torch on top of the Bird’s Nest stadium.

The 45-ton structure, which remained lit during the 18-day competition in 2008, will take at least a month to haul down to the ground.

Read the full story and see some more incredible photos here.

Blasting company reacts angrily to rival’s chimney blast failure.

Here at DemolitionNews, we walk a very fine line. We consider ourselves to be of and for the demolition industry and, when push comes to shove, our default reaction is to always come down on the side of the demolition contractor. But what do we do when one company highlights the failures of another? We can’t take sides and, frankly, although we write about this subject on a daily basis, we’re not sufficiently expert to comment on the technicalities of a specific contract.

So instead, we have decided (on this occasion) to simply publish a full and frank letter we have received from Robyn Rushforth at Precision Demolition Company Ltd that suggests that the failed blast at the Cemex works in Rochester last Sunday was not just predictable but entirely according to precedent, a fact that Rushforth highlights with a 25-old video clip.

Once again we would reiterate that we’re not taking sides in this debate, nor are the views expressed necessarily those of DemolitionNews. However, as a news resource of and for the demolition industry, we believe that this is a debate that should be aired publicly to hopefully prevent a recurrence of this partial stand up:

“…The failure of this chimney to collapse properly is a sad reflection on the way some elements of our industry presently work.

Whilst we appreciate that in this day and age all costs need to be watched by contractors it is most disheartening that technical information provided free of charge is disregarded and that subcontractors are selected on bottom line price with little or no regard to their technical merit…”

Robyn Rushforth
Precision Demolition Company Ltd

Barking B Short from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.

DemolitionNews attended last week’s Institute of Demolition Engineers seminar.

On paper, the idea of an Institute of Demolition Engineers seminar with no specific demolition content looked a little less than promising and was, perhaps, the reason that DemolitionNews was the only press outlet that saw fit to attend.

But, in truth, the focus upon all things waste was an accurate reflection of the direction in which the UK demolition industry is headed; and several of the presentations – hand-picked by IDE vice-president John Woodward – served as an early warning of the challenges (and, in some instances, threats) that will face the demolition sector in the coming months and years.

We have gathered together video and audio recordings of all but one of the key presentations (we’re hoping to follow up with the missing presentation shortly).

Wayne Bagnall – Audio Case Study of a project in which asbestos was inadvertently disturbed:

NFDC Chief Executive Howard Button – The NFDC Then & Now/Accedited Site Audit Scheme

Howard Button from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.

Keltbray technical director Dr Clifford Charles Burton on remediation of contaminated waste:

Dr Clifford Burton from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.

Barry Love, Environmental Law Chambers, on the definition of waste and “avoiding the waste tag”:

Mr Barry Love from Mark Anthony on Vimeo.