Lisbon Elevator Fire Broke Out Just After Demolition Began.

Demolition of a century-old grain elevator had just started when a spark from a torch lit part of the structure on fire Monday.

Firefighters from 11 towns responded around 1:30 p.m. to battle the blaze at Wilkin Elevator, 102 E. Fifth Ave. No one was injured, but the fire destroyed a milling area and the main receiving leg.

The owner of the property, Jason Owen of Solon, said he closed on the vacant property last Wednesday. Demolition began Monday morning, with contracted workers using torches to dismantle legs for overhead grain bins, he said.

“One guy said the sparks got up under the tin and caught the wood on fire,” Lisbon Fire Chief Joe Long said. “They tried to put it out with the fire extinguisher, but didn’t have any luck.”

Read more here.

Advanced Explosive Demolition’s Eric and Lisa Kelly talk about The Imploders.

Fresh from blasting certain elements of the US demolition industry here on Demolition News, Eric Kelly and his wife Lisa, the team behind Advanced Explosive Demolition, have given an interview to LA Talk Radio.

In the interview, the pair discuss how they came to be involved in the demolition industry, and The Learning Channel TV programme The Imploders that is airing now in the US.

To listen to the interview, just click here.

Europe’s largest demolition contract nears completion with silo implosion.

Erith Group, the company behind Europe’s largest demolition contract, has imploded the six remaining silos on the Lafarge site in Northfleet, Kent.

The implosion, which is captured on this exclusive Demolition News video, marks the latest major phase in a contract that is nearing completion months ahead of schedule.

Tea brand offers chance to “press the button” on UK building implosion.

Despite some differences in local and national legisaltion, demolition is roughly the same the world over. However, here in the UK, we do have a few industry peculiarities that differentiate this green and pleasant land: Regardless of how much protective equipment they’re wearing, a UK demolition operative will always find a way to expose at least a third of his buttocks when bending over; Fridays are known universally as POETS Day (p**s off early, tomorrow’s Saturday); and at least one hour on a Monday morning must be devoted to laughing at a colleague who saw his favourite football (soccer) team lose at the weekend.

Another key element that separates UK demolition workers from those around the world is their love of tea. Indeed, here in the UK, many still believe that tea can cure everything from depression to cancer and that it can resolve national disputes and international wars.

So it is, perhaps, fitting that the team behind the Make Mine a Builders‘ tea brand have decided to work with the UK demolition industry to create its biggest marketing campaign to date.

Together with Precision Demolition Company Limited and C&D Consultancy, Make Mine a Builders is offering one person the chance to press the button on an as-yet-unnamed building implosion later this year.

“We have been demolishing the competition in tea taste tests and wanted to give one of our customers the exciting, once-in-a-lifetime chance to do the same to a building,” explains Make Mine a Builders’ Jonathan Chiu.

To enter, tea drinkers have to guess the six-digit demolition code. Entry forms can be found on the back of promotional packs at Morrisons or online at www.makemineabuilders.com . The promotion closes 30 July 2010.

Just when you thought huge bid spreads were the preserve of the US demolition industry.

The City of Cape Town on Sunday said it would appoint a demolition company by the end of the week to bring down the Athlone cooling towers. The ailing structures were declared unsafe on 14 February after one of the tower’s support rings started crumbling.

The city’s Clive Justus said eight companies have expressed interest in the job. “We were successful in having eight tenders of which seven of them were deemed to be valid. The assessment in terms of the criteria, the price and the timeline are being considered.”

The quotes from the eight bidders range from R4.5 million ($592,000) to R25 million ($3.3 million.

Read more here.

Canadian town of Asbestos seeks to attract tourists.

Our good friends over at Spectra Analysis alerted us to this story from the weekend’s Guardian newspaper here in the UK about a Canadian mining town that is hoping to attract tourists to a significant local landmark…and asbestos mine.

Asbestos (population 5,000) is the spiritual home of a substance banned across most of the western world. Recently it has come under fire for exporting the cancer-causing mineral to developing countries, such as India and China.

The town believes its eponymous export has been unfairly demonised. It may have a major public relations problem, but isn’t going to let this get in the way of its plans to offer healthy living and adventure activities to tourists.

Alain Roy, a local councillor, describes global medical consensus on asbestos health risks as “de la bullshit”. The townsfolk are proud of their heritage, he says. “We would be happy to welcome tourists to tell them the truth about who we are.”

At 2 km wide, the Jeffrey mine is almost as big as the surrounding town – a vast, graduated lunar landscape that developers plan to turn into an adventure-lovers’ paradise, with tracks designed for all-terrain vehicles and bicycles. The project has already been road-tested. Rock climbing may be a possibility.

“It’s like a great big sand pit, a gigantic playground!” says Marc Cantin, a coordinator at the local tourist board.

You can read the full story here or perhaps you’d prefer to suggest towns or cities with which Asbestos might be twinned using the Comments tab below.

We’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win a new AEM safety manual.

Our good friends at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ AEM Store have just updated its Hydraulic Excavator Safety Manual. Updates include:

* Machine illustrations updated to represent current machine designs.
* Safety alert messages, use of the “Safety Alert symbol” and use of “Signal Words” revised to conform to ANSI Z535.6:2006.
* Information on use of One-Call services and the USA national 811 number included.
* The safe mounting and dismounting practice discussion expanded and presented in the new format.
* Material on attachment installation and the safe installation, use and maintenance of quick-couplers included.
* A new section discussing trenching safety included.
* Additional material on utility locating practices incorporated.
* Use of newer safety design features, such as gate or armrest based hydraulic control locks, incorporated.

To celebrate the launch of this excellent new publication, Demolition News and AEM Store is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of their very own by answering one very simple question:

The previous version of the Hydraulic Excavator Safety Manual was 48 pages in length. But how long is the new, upgraded version?

To enter, please email your answer together with your full postal address to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the winning entries received. The competition closes on Sunday 16 May 2010.

Calls for investigation over measly demolition death fines.

The Hawaii Laborers’ Union has asked for a state legislative investigation into the death of a worker in the collapse of a Hawaiian Cement tower at Campbell Industrial Park.

Al Lardizabal, government relations director for AFL-CIO Local 368, said yesterday that the “measly” fines imposed on each of two contractors for separate violations are “utterly laughable.”

State Department of Labor Director Darwin Ching imposed a fine of $750 on Nov. 13 on co-contractor AG Transport for failing to have a written engineering survey. General contractor San Construction LLC of Hawaii, which also received a $750 fine, was cited as the co-contractor for failing to do its prime contractor responsibility in ensuring compliance with Hawaii industrial safety standards.

On the morning of May 16, AG Transport employee Juan Navarro, 54, of South El Monte, California died after the (51 metre) 168-foot tower collapsed on him during preparation for the tower’s demolition.

A supervisor told labor investigators he and Navarro were making cuts in the legs of the pre-heater tower when they heard a pop and ran out. The supervisor said Navarro re-entered the tower base area, and it collapsed.

Read more here.

Asbestos penalty makes mockery of recent worker death fine.

You might recall that we reported last week on the $750 fine imposed on a demolition company implicated in the death of one of its employees. At the time, we said that such a minimal penalty was tantamount to categorizing demolition workers as expendable.

Fast-forward a week and we have a story about a $1.2 million fine imposed by a Baltimore court on a demolition company found guilty of of contravening asbestos regulations in which precisely nobody (thankfully) died.

Now I realise that US states have their own individual legislature and that there’s also another layer of federal law to contend with.

But if someone can explain why a company can be fined $750 for killing a worker while another can be fined $1.2 million for not killing anyone, I’d love to hear the explanation.

With many US demolition contractors now forced to travel out-of-state to find work in these recessionary times, surely a little legal consistency is not too much to ask….is it?

Photo captures Italian specialists on small-scale German contract.

Take a good look at this photo; all looks to be in order right? A pair of high reaches working in perfect unison; support equipment where it should be; exclusion zone and perimeter protection in place.

Now look a little bit closer. There’s remarkably little dust, right? And everything looks a little static.

Well, it’s for good reason. Mark Bryan, managing director of UK demolition contractor J. Bryan (Victoria) Ltd sent us the uncropped photo after his recent visit to the Bauma exhibition in Munich, Germany. But this is not, actually, a demolition contractor.

As the full-size photo (below) shows, this is, in fact, an expertly-crafted exhibition stand hosted by Italian attachment manufacturer Trevi Benne.

Thanks for the photo Mark. And if anyone else has any good model or miniature photos they’d like to share, please send them to us at manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk