Wilkes-Barre city board irks firm with demolition bid pick.

Tammy Brennan, owner of T. Brennan Heavy Equipment, and her husband, Timothy are planning to challenge the award of a contract to demolish the former Murray Courtright complex.

The contract to demolish the blighted multi-building site was recently awarded to Stell Enterprises. But Branna insists that her company was, in fact, the low bidder, a fact that she intends to bring to the attention of a council meeting.

“There was a base bid and several alternates,” Brennan said. “Depending on which alternates are selected, we are the low bidder.” The Brennan bid came in at $921,490, while Stell’s bid was $1,015,593.

Read more here.

Despite upturns in national and global economies, bid prices remain artificially low.

I attended a meeting recently with the HSBC bank’s chief economist in the UK, Dennis Turner who set about explaining the “alphabet soup” of recession and recovery cycles. “There is the V-shaped recession in which the economy dips into the red and then immediately comes back up again. There’s the U-shaped recession where markets go down and stay down for a while before climbing back. And there’s the W-shaped recession that everyone fears at present in which we go down, come back a bit, go down again and then eventually recover,” Turner said. “But the one we should all fear the most is the L-shaped recession.”

In truth, the world has just endured a U-shaped recession. There’s no question that it was prolonged; nor can there be any argument that it was Mariana Trench deep. But, the fact is, the world’s major economies went down, stayed down for a time, and then started their slow ascent back to some degree of normality.

And yet, against this backdrop, some elements of the demolition industry – and both sides of the Atlantic are equally guilty here – seem determined to talk and bid themselves into that nightmare scenario of the L-shaped recession.

What makes this even more bizarre is that it is both self-perpetuating and almost wholly confined to one business sector.

While the other market sectors that provide an accurate snapshot of the state of the economy – notably house building and car sales – are seeing month-on-month upturns, demolition appears determined to ride the recession horse and cart long after other industries have bought a Mercedes and driven off into in search of the next boom.

Why is this?

Well, the Dutch Auction regulations that insist that the low bid (generally) wins the contract certainly don’t help, and local authorities, city officials and private companies really do need some lessons in why low cost does not necessarily equate to best value.

But more often it is the demolition contractors that are shooting themselves in the foot with a barrage of low bids that has continued long after the worst of the recession (in most areas) is over.

What I fail to understand is why. Sure, demolition contractors are not generally the top of the academic tree. But what they lack in college degrees they more than make up with a healthy dose of street smarts, guile, cunning and enviable business acumen. The industry boasts very few qualified economists and yet contractors track fuel and scrap prices with the eyes of a hawk and the intuition of a commodities trader.

So why have they failed to heed the upturn in the markets? Why have they failed to adapt their prices to reflect the growing economic optimism in the allied construction, waste and crap industries?

As a very good friend of Demolition News pointed out to us, the current economy has “a theme of innovation, productivity and added-value”.

Those demolition contractors that conform to that trend will be on the U-train headed for a long overdue recovery. Those that insist on merely slashing prices just bought themselves a one-way ticket, riding the L-train to oblivion. We can only wish them bon voyage.

Multi-angle video captures final moments of Giants’ Stadium press box.

We can go weeks without receiving details of a single great demolition video and then today, like London buses, two come along together. This latest one was shot by our old buddy Stephen SetteDucati and its shows Gramercy Wrecking literally pulling down for press box of the Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

What makes this video even more unusual is that it has been shot using a total of 10 strategically-located cameras to capture the action from every conceivable angle.

Outgoing EDA president oversees spectacular implosion in Lyon.

In just over a week, Yves Canessa’s reign as president of the European Demolition Association comes to and end as he is replaced by current vice president, Giuseppe Panseri.

But, judging by this video shot in Lyon, France yesterday, Canessa is following Jon Bon Jovi’s advice and going out in a blaze of glory.

$800 million to be earmarked for cleanup of former General Motors sites.

The Obama administration has proposed a trust fund of more than $800 million to pay for the cleanup of closed General Motors sites in 14 states.

Ed Montgomery, who leads the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, said the fund would clean up nearly 90 properties shuttered in the GM bankruptcy. He said it represented the largest environmental and economic development effort for former manufacturing sites.

The cleanup plan will help raze or rehabilitate dozens of vacant manufacturing facilities and offices left barren by GM’s government-led bankruptcy last year. Montgomery announced the cleanup at a conference sponsored by the White House and the Brookings Institution, on the future of automotive communities affected by the industry’s downsizing.

Montgomery said the proposal would provide $536 million for the cleanup of properties, and about $300 million to help states and communities pay for property taxes, demolition costs, plant security and other expenses.

Read the full story here.

Another Cabrini-Green high-rise set to come down in Chicago.

The Chicago Housing Authority has sent out eviction notices to residents of one of the last remaining high-rises in the Cabrini-Green development. The 48-year old building – nicknamed “the Himalaya” – comprises 134 units, but only 31 families still live there. They all received 30-day eviction notices Tuesday.

CHA Chief Executive Officer Lewis A. Jordan said the decision to close the Near North Side building – a moved deemed an “emergency closure” – was spurred by increasing crime and low occupancy.

“First and foremost, our job is to put people in better and safer housing,” Jordan said in a statement. “We can no longer tolerate seeing good people live in deteriorating and unsafe conditions. . . . The families there are at great risk.”

Read the full story here.

Utah the latest to join US’ unofficial low bid campaign.

The low level of bids emanating from the US demolition industry has now been so much a part of the Demolition News landscape that it has started to feel like a smelly, hand-me-down, threadbare armchair that just sits in the corner to act as a constant reminder of just how far we’ve fallen from the heady heights of 2006/07.

Smelly and uncomfortable though it may be, it’s time for us to sit in this hideous furniture throwback and bring you news of the latest round of low bids, this time in Utah.

Buildings are coming down as part of Washington County’s journey toward the creation of a new justice center. And with bids on the various stages of planning and construction coming in dramatically lower than expected, county officials are looking forward to some serious savings.

Though original estimates had the price tag for the demolition work at more than $100,000, the Washington County Commission approved a contract with JP Excavating Inc. Tuesday for a little more than $40,000. That work included the removal of a handful of older houses east of the courthouse – the future location of the justice center.

“I think people are out there trying to find work to keep themselves busy,” Commissioner Dennis Drake said of the economic climate and the plethora of hungry contractors. “Even sometimes at lower than their costs.”

If you can bring yourselves to read more, please click here. As for us, we’re off to the tip to rid ourselves of this nasty old armchair once and for all.

Rumours of General Demolition’s demise apparently exaggerated…?

You may recall that back in the middle of February this year we reported on the untimely demise of UK contractor, General Demolition, the company having reportedly been swept away on a tide of legal action over an unpaid bill for six years’ worth of unpaid water and sewerage bills.

So imagine our surprise when we received news of this article today which not only makes no mention of the liquidation but which details a high-profile London contract upon which General Demolition is currently employed.

We have heard of the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes before; but this is the first time we’re aware of one re-emerging from a watery grave.

If anyone out there can shed some light on this, we’d love to hear from you.

How much experience should an operator have before driving an ultra-high reach machine?

At the end of this month, some of Europe’s leading demolition companies will gather in Warsaw, Poland for the latest European Demolition Association conference. And we will be there to capture all the news and views for you.

However, in advance of that meeting, we’re calling for your input.

One of the most eagerly debated and emotive issues in the field of demolition equipment at present is the amount of experience an operator should have before he (or she) is allowed to climb behind the levers of an ultra high (30 metre plus) demolition excavator.

So we would like to gauge your thoughts with a special poll on the subject which you can find by clicking here. It will take you less than a minute to complete and your answers will, of course, be treated in the strictest confidence – All we’re interested in is gauging the thoughts of demolition professionals.

We look forward to seeing your responses.

Safedem sets the date for simultaneous tower block implosion.

On Sunday 27 June, both Sandeman and Kincairne Courts in Kincardine, Scotland, will become nothing more than a pile of rubble when controlled explosions will bring them down.

William Sinclair, from Safedem Ltd, the company Fife Council have contracted to carry out the demolition work, said, “Our experienced teams are working closely with all of the organisations involved in planning, co-ordinating and managing this operation. The safety aspect of the demolition is of paramount importance.

“An exclusion zone will be established on 27 June and residents within this exclusion zone will be evacuated. Our Community Liaison Teams will now be visiting residents to put the necessary arrangements in place for the evacuation.”

Read more here.