JCB unveils shagtastic new low fuel consumption backhoe loader.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if ever Austin Powers hung up his mojo and took up a job in the construction industry? No, neither had we; at least not until this photo arrived from JCB.

The company has produced this one-off machine to announce the launch of a new backhoe loader that will not only cut customers’ fuel costs by 16 percent but which also features “an in-cab drinks machine able to make tea, coffee and soup for those cold winter mornings”.

Impressive and questionable though these developments are, we were far more enamoured with the patriotic paint job.

OH BEHAVE!

Farmer who repelled demolition crews with home-made rockets lands cash payout.

A farmer in China who fired improvised rockets at demolition teams says he has been rewarded with a generous compensation package.

Yang Youde, a 56-year old farmer, was told his land was needed to build new offices. The developers offered him compensation but he did not think it was enough. The case highlights the efforts some Chinese are taking to preserve their property rights in the face of forced relocation by government officials.

Mr Youde built a watchtower. When demolition teams arrived, he fired home made rockets towards them, repelling them twice.

Read the full story here.

Company behind botched demolition didn’t follow regulations, says city.

In what must surely qualify as the year’s finest example of stating the obvious, Vancouver city officials have declared that the company behind last month’s double-demolition near miss “didn’t follow regulations”. (The fact that Global Excavating & Demolition Ltd twice deposited several tonnes of debris onto busy streets in just a few minutes was probably a clue).

The city’s review of the incident found the contractor did not have a written safety plan in place and did not have final clearance from the district building inspector.

The city’s chief building official on Thursday lifted the suspension of the company’s demolition permit for the site after reviewing and accepting Global’s construction safety plan for the location, payment for the damage to city property and compliance with the requirements set out for the company to do demolition work in the city, it said in a press release.

Read more here.

Further administrative delays push Bellaire Bridge demolition back still further.

There are times in this business when the planets align, the Gods smile, and the headlines and stories just seem to write themselves. Just a week after we uploaded our podcast on a Europe-wide study on administrative burdens comes a story of a bridge that is seemingly being held up by nothing more than paperwork.

As we have reported previously, the demolition of the Bellaire Bridge had been delayed by a variety of unforeseen administrative hold-ups. Several weeks on and those hold-ups apparently show now sign of subsiding. Despite now owning the bridge in question, Delta Demolition seems to have run headlong into a series of obstacles constructed almost entirely from red tape.

“Just like any contractor who comes to town to do any work, we require them to have a contractor’s license, workers comp, provide insurance and provide us guarantees that they own the bridge. They own the property, and they are going to do the work satisfactory so we don’t have any problems down the road,” said David McLaughlin, Benwood Code Enforcement officer.

Delta Demolition said it has also discovered asbestos in the window frames on the old toll shacks. The demolition crew now has to wait for results to come back for the shacks

To learn more, please click here to view the News 9 video.

Burglars caught on camera attempting to rob demolition company.

Police say crooks picked the wrong target in a late Wednesday night break-in.

Burglars hit the offices of Demolition Disposal Services on Hedger Lane in eastern Fayette County. Police received a call from the company’s owner, who was watching the crook in action on his surveillance system from Florida. When officers arrived, they couldn’t find anyone inside.

Rumours suggesting that the ill-advised crook has won himself the opportunity to hold the explosives inside the building during a forthcoming implosion are yet to be confirmed.

Institute of Demolition Engineers releases preliminary programme for London event.

As we have reported previously, the demolition professionals’ diary is fast filling up; and here’s yet another key event to shoe-horn into your schedule.

The Institute of Demolition Engineers (IDE) is returning to its spiritual London home on 24 September for its 2010 Autumn Seminar. And we have just received advanced details of what the programme will comprise: As well as advising of the latest legislation, guidance and regulations, this event will focus on:

• Demolition & Recycling Intergalactic
• Demolition & Asbestos Issues
• Remediation of Contaminated Waste
• Legal Definition of Waste
• NFDC Site Audit Scheme

The event will take place at One Great George Street, Westminster, London. Registration starts at 09.30 and the event will close at 16.00. There is a £150 for for attendance that includes a seated buffet lunch.

Further information is available via events@demolitionengineers.org or Tel: +44 1527 518777.

UK contractor celebrates website relaunch with new video.

Erith Group, one of the UK’s leading demolition contractors, has relaunched its corporate website. And, to celebrate, the company has just produced a short but really nice demolition video to run alongside it.

Run by National Federation of Demolition Contractors president David Darsey, Erith is a keen exponent of Internet usage in all its forms, as this video on the company’s adoption of cloud computing explains.

But here at Demolition News, we’re far more interested in the sharp end of the company’s activities so take a look at the video below.

University of Alabama starts demolition of Central Plant smokestack

The UA board of trustees approved plans in February to demolish the 73 metre (240-foot) high smokestack because of the rising cost of upkeep.

University spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said the cost of demolition is approximately $225,000. “The smokestack was in a deteriorating state, with bulges between the upper bands, weakening of the mortar joints, discoloration of the upper area, a rusted cast iron cap, and corrosion of the steel tension bands,” Andreen said.

Demolition will save $85,000 every 5 to 10 years in scheduled maintenance costs. Repairing the smokestack, which has been dormant for six years, in its current condition would cost $125,000.

The demolition is expected to be complete by the end of the month.

The 6.75 metre (22-foot) wide smokestack was built in 1965 to vent exhaust from the university’s coal-fired boilers. The smokestack, considered an eyesore in part because of the billows of smoke that came out of the top, was removed from service in 2004 and replaced by a modern, more energy-efficient exhaust system.

Read more here.

After four years of mothballs, demolition work is underway at Ford’s Norfolk facility.

Brandenburg demolition crews started the daunting task of tearing down nearly all of the buildings once used to build the F-150 truck.

The Ford company is making room for its potential buyer – Jacoby Development Group. The Atlanta developer wants to turn the 106-acre site into an alternative energy manufacturing and research park. It would lease or sale 65 acres of industrial-zoned parcels. The main assembly building would be subdivided into office space.

Rio de Janeiro’s Presidio Helio Gomes falls, just as predicted.

Demolition News’ friend Fabio Pinto carried out the implosion of the Presidio Helio Gomes in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. And while our Portuguese barely allows us to order a beer unaided, even we can see that the job went smoothly (unlike the implosion of the Brazil national football team the previous evening) and in accordance with the computerised simulation released previously.