UK contractor Clifford Devlin announces passing of founder Peter Clifford

David Darsey, president of the UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors, has led the tributes to Clifford Devlin founder and chairman Peter Clifford who passed away following a short illness.

“Peter was a true gentleman, and his passing is a loss to us all,” Darsey says. “My thoughts, and those of the NFDC officers, are with Peter’s family at this time.”

While the UK demolition industry awaits funeral details, the NFDC has created an online memorial site to allow Clifford’s friends and colleagues in the industry to post their tributes and memories. That memorial can be found by clicking here.

Delegates and sponsors are flooding in to support the NFDC’s Demolition Day.

It’s still more than two months away but the National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ Demolition Day seminar/conference is already exceeding expectations.

The event, which is being held in London on 12 October 2010, has already attracted well over 100 delegate registrations and 20+ major sponsors including all of the world’s major excavator manufacturers.

“With any kind of event of this kind, there’s always a nagging doubt that the content or timing might be wrong or that the industry might not have an appetite for a seminar on such a vertical, niche market. But we have been blown away by the repsonse from both the delegates and the sponsors,” says DemolitionNews’ Mark Anthony who is working with the NFDC o bring this ambitious event to fruition. “Not only do we have demolition contractors from the South of England attending, we have people coming in from Italy, Belgum and the Netherlands. At this rate, we’re going to need a larger venue.”

With this inaugural event almost a sell-out, the NFDC is already looking ahead with plans for a second Demolition day in Manchester early in 2011 followed by a third in Scotland.

Shop owner takes demolition into his own hands following delays.

When someone far cleverer than us described the UK and the US as “two nations divided by a single language”, they really hit the nail on the head. But there’s far more separating Blighty and the Land of the Free than mere language, as is evidenced beautifully illustrated by the following story and video.

Here in the UK, a shop owner frustrated by the slow pace of some internal demolition works would have a number of options open to them. First they would “tut” just loud enough to satisfy themselves but certainly not loud enough to alert anyone else. If this doesn’t work – and it rarely does – the next course of action is a disappointed shaking of the head. If progress still remains slow, then the British shopkeeper has but one option – A stern letter (not an email).

On the other side of the pond, however, a more direct form of action is available. You simply climb behind the wheel of your pickup (and what proud American doesn’t have ready access to a pickup) and you set about doing the demolition yourself.

As YouTube user Pirate4x4Lance writes: “So our buddy Bob is moving his shop next door to ours. It used to be a butcher shop, and it was really disgusting. Bob decided he would have everything but the office and bathroom tore out. “The work crew was taking too long, so I took over,” Bob says.

Another week, and another excavator finds itself in a surprising subterranean setting.

Did we miss a meeting? Did someone on high in the demolition firmament decide that the best way to fill basements and other underground voids is to park an excavator in them?

The only reason we ask is that we’ve just been alerted to the latest in a series of “excavator-falls-down-unseen-hole” stories and, to be frank, we’re starting to wonder if this is some kind of half-assed anti-capitalism, political or fashion statement.

The latest accident (pictured) happened on Monday when crews were clearing debris from the Dubuque Street Armory, the longtime base for the Iowa Army National Guard in Johnson County.

For what we hope will be the final time; if you’re an excavator operator, you might like to avoid driving a 30 tonne machine over that basement that is covered by a flimsy bit of concrete…unless you also wish to dabble in the tunneling business.

Think you know football (soccer)? Then come join our Fantasy Premier League.

With the new Premiership football season due to start in just a few days, and a new opportunity for my beloved West Ham to put me through the usual nine months of rare highs interspersed by all-too-frequent lows, we are once again launching our Demolition Fantasy Football League.

Slightly embarrassingly, we actually won our own fantasy league last year; which just goes to show that we’re better at choosing players than we are at choosing teams.

We have already done the initial hard work, and we’ve even put an imaginary £100 million into the kitty to allow you each to select the players you expect to excel in the new season. All you need to do is hit the following link, select an appropriate kit, team name and your players and we’re off.

Join the Demolition Fantasy Football League. Use the code 1190958-249097 after picking your team to join my league. http://bit.ly/ahompN

£113,500 in fines for seven companies prosecuted over illegal handling of asbestos.

A contracting company has become the latest to fall foul of an asbestos abatement crackdown by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) into a site in South Lanarkshire. Doonin Plant Limited pleaded guilty last year to disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.

“The company was disposing of a large amount of waste and showing scant regard for the legislation designed to protect human health and the environment. In addition to the serious potential damage to the environment, offences like this take business away from legitimate companies which ensure waste is treated appropriately and all appropriate licences are in place,” says Tom Inglis, SEPA’s acting director of operations. “Waste offences in Scotland are a problem, and one that SEPA is determined to tackle through operations such as this. The operation that brought these seven companies to court is one example of the kind of work we are doing, as is our work to reduce the number of fly-tipped tyres in the West of Scotland, which is already showing good results.”

“SEPA aims to be a firm but fair regulator, working with people to ensure they understand the regulations that apply to them, and simplifying the system where we can. The flipside of this “better regulation” approach is that when prosecutions are necessary, the fine levels must operate as a real deterrent. I therefore welcome the decision in this case, and note the comment made by Their Lordships, that a fine in a case such as this should be large enough to ‘bring the message home’ to companies that ‘the statutory provisions designed to protect our environment must be taken seriously,” adds SEPA chief executive Campbell Gemmell. “We will continue, through our close working relationship with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and indeed with the Police and other partners as necessary, to ensure that environmental crime is dealt with in a robust manner in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.”

Five other companies also pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court, on various dates, to depositing controlled waste on the site when no waste management licence was in force:

* C.E.P. Demolitions Limited – fined £7,500 on 29 September 2009.
* JCJ (Demolition and Construction) Limited – fined £2,500 on 15 February 2010.
* George Hunter (Demolishers) Limited – fined £6,000 on 4 March 2010.
* E. Nicholson & Sons (Metals) Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.
* St Andrews Demolition & Construction Limited – fined £2,250 on 16 March 2010.

Read more here.

Fabio Bruno Construcoes pulls off a neat triple implosion.

Here at Demolition News Towers, we’re always excited when we receive an email from Fabio Pinto. Not only is he a good friend to Demolition News, his emails usually mean that he has just imploded something and has the video footage to prove it.

And his latest email was no exception. This weekend, he oversaw an impressive triple demolition at Vicente de Carvalho in Rio de Janeiro, taking down a pair of 90 metre chimneys at a water tower. Take a look.

Summer edition of Demolition & Dismantling is available to read online NOW.

The Summer 2010 edition of Demolition & Dismantling, the magazine of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, is available to read online now:

Former Controlled Group employee Colin Hiscock is growing frustrated.

Welcome to Episode 3 of Diary of a Workseeker in which we’re following former Controlled Group employee Colin Hiscock as he attempts to find himself a new job.

In this latest episode, Colin admits that he is growing frustrated and that he has started to look beyond the demolition sector for possible employment. But he also has some words of encouragement for his former colleagues at Controlled as they too seek employment opportunities.

Council seeks contractor to demolish a 29-storey block of flats on Tyneside.

Derwent Tower, in Dunston, Gateshead – which is nicknamed the Dunston Rocket because of its shape – was built in 1973, and has been plagued with problems such as damp. Gateshead Council plans to redevelop the site and hopes work will begin before the end of year.

The 85 metre (280 feet) tall tower block of 196 flats is now empty. Former residents had to put up with low water pressure in the taps and lifts frequently breaking down. The council plans to replace the tower and its 116 adjoining maisonettes with new homes and shops.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “Because of its structural complexity, Derwent Tower will not be demolished with explosives but will be carefully dismantled.

Read more here.