MGL Demolition carries out dual tower block implosion in Middlesborough.
MGL Demolition this weekend completed the demolition of Fulbeck House and Glentworth House in Middlesbrough’s Netherfields area. These were built in 1968, and each 16-storey block comprised 90 flats.
A lottery to press “the button” raised money for Normanby’s Zoe’s Place and was won by schoolgirl Joanna Gray.
Experienced UHD machines users will spot the problem about 21 seconds in.
In light of the ongoing discussions regarding the inexperience ultra-high demolition excavator utilisation of some US contractors, and the willingness of others to use undersized machines, the outcome of this (quite old) video should become apparent about 21 seconds after it starts, even though it takes almost three minutes to reach its inevitable denouement.
The debate about the US’ apparent reluctance to high reach machines rages on…
What started out as a simple, almost rhetorical question has proved to be the most eagerly followed and contentious in Demolition News’ 12 month history.
Towards the end of last week, we innocently asked “why don’t Americans GET high reach demolition excavators”. There was an initial (and ongoing) flurry of comments here on Demolition News (click here to read the story and then hit the word comments in blue at the foot of the article to follow the trail of feedback) but, since then, the conversation has gone global.
First, the story turned up on the blog of Construction Equipment, the world’s largest construction equipment magazine. This was followed by another trail of comment and counter comment on the Heavy Equipment Forum, and then by yet more toing and froing on the Demolition Forum.
And the argument and debate is not over yet.
So please, if you have a spare few minutes and can offer feedback based upon your own company’s use of a high reach machine, please visit any of these discussion forums and share your thoughts.
Demolition News offers a guide to demolition for TV executives everywhere.
Rarely a week goes by when we don’t receive a phone call from a TV researcher or two, each looking to show demolition “in a new light”. In recent weeks, we have also had a tea producer and an online game organiser, each looking to “butch up” their product by a link with the rough, tough world of demolition.
However, on the basis that most of these enquiries ask exactly the same set of questions, we thought we would offer the following guide to demolition for TV types:
If any readers have any further advice, please use the comments area (in blue) below.
Work underway at Electrolux’s Michigan factory, formerly world’s largest refrigerator plant.
Demolition crews are well on their way to reducing the building that once was the world’s largest refrigerator factory to a distant memory.
Crews from Bierlein Companies in Midland have demolished about three-quarters of the former Electrolux plant in Greenville. After starting on the west side in May, workers have chewed their way nearly all the way to the oldest sections of the 158,000 square metre factory on the east side.
Click here for the full story.
One big bang, and these twin smoke stacks fall.
OK, this is not quite live, but as we’re typing this text, this implosion in Montana happened less than an hour ago:
We’re hoping there will be some more professional footage such as this which was filmed during the preparation for today’s nicely controlled implosion.
Sign up now to the Demolition Fantasy Premier League.
In less than 24 hours, the start of the English Premiership season gets underway. So this is just a quick reminder that Demolition News has created a fantasy football league specifically for demolition professionals.
Competitors are given an imaginary £100 million to spend on Premiership players (and believe me, it doesn’t go far when you’ve spent £20+ million on Rooney and Gerrard) and can then pit their team against those of other demolition professionals in the newly-created Demolition League. You can then spend the next eight months pretending to be Sir Alex Ferguson, buying and selling players and changing systems.
The league will run for the entire season but we will be producing regular updates here at Demolition News and over on Twitter on www.twitter.com/demolitionnews. And although we haven’t yet agreed what the prize will be, there will be a prize for the winning team at the end of the 2009/2010 season.
To take part, all you have to do is register at http://fantasy.premierleague.com
Once you have logged in and entered your team, click on the ‘Leagues’ link you can find on the right of the page. Now enter the code 585464-136648 to join the private league.
Just one final note – When you do join, you will see that Demolition News has already registered a team (the appropriately named Mighty ‘ammers).
Good luck and enjoy the game.
Low recycling rates and high accident levels highlight US demolition’s failure to innovate.
I have spent more than 25 years writing about construction, demolition, and the equipment used across these demanding sectors. And for the most part, it was like casting my carefully crafted and finely honed words and phrases to the four winds, as even the most controversial – and in some cases, idiotic – statements were greeted with a stony silence from the readership of whichever trade magazine was paying me at the time.
This, in truth, was one of the reasons for producing Demolition News in a weblog (or blog) format. One of the most gratifying things about running and contributing to this site is not checking the web statistics to see how many people looked at the previous day’s articles. Nor is it calculating the revenue secured from the advertising which, let’s face it, is not sufficient for me to retire any time soon.
No, the most gratifying thing about running this site is the dialogue that it attracts, whether it’s about an issue of the day or how stupid I look in a kilt. And as a result, I find myself writing in a totally new way. I no longer preach and rehash the wisdom of someone far more knowledgeable. Instead, I like to throw a spotlight upon a specific subject, ask a question, and see where that takes us.
So, as the headline above suggests, the question for today is: Why have US demolition contractors failed to grasp the high reach excavator concept?
Now before I sign off and leave you, our loyal readers, to suggest why the single greatest advance in recent industry history is still anathema to most US demolition contractors, let’s take a quick look at the facts.
The high reach excavator as we would understand it today has been around in Europe for something like 20 years. During that time, it has been honed, enhanced and refined, and the machines themselves have slowly got bigger and bigger.
But the growth in the size of the machines – with the current record holder standing at a previously unimaginable 90 metres – hides the true, industry-defining magnitude of the contribution made these highly specialised machines.
For one thing, their arrival and subsequent growth has served to reduce the number of demolition workers required to get “up close and personal” with the more hazardous areas of the demolition task. The machines have also benefited from huge strides in operator comfort and protection.
Together, these developments have led to a significant drop in the number of work-related incidents, accidents and fatalities on UK and European demolition sites.
And let’s not forget that, at the time of writing, high reach demolition excavators have yet to be linked directly with a single on-site fatality, despite the fact that only the UK has (so far) a set of guidance notes on the safe use of these monster machines.
In short, as these machines have gone up, so accident levels have gone down.
Now take a quick scoot through YouTube and search for the term “demolition accident” and you’ll be astounded at just how many feature a US contractor undercutting a structure with an excavator that is clearly way too small for the task. A bit like this one that we showed you yesterday, in fact.
And the story doesn’t end there. Indeed, the decline in demolition accidents and fatalities is mirrored almost perfectly in the decline in materials sent to landfill, since the arrival and almost universal adoption of high reach machines this side of the Atlantic spearheaded a move away from demolition and towards deconstruction.
The result is that UK and European sites are achieving 90%+ recycling rates with such regularity these days that we no longer talk about it. Our American counterparts, meanwhile, speak with some pride about achieving 45%!
The other bizarre thing – and you’ll have to bear with me because I am about to sail very close to the wind of racial stereotyping – is that Americans traditionally have a fascination with anything, well, big. Look at their cars, their skyscrapers, their food! And this applies in industry too. If Caterpillar took it upon themselves to build a 1,000 tonne dozer capable of leveling an entire town in a single afternoon, you just know that an American contractor is going to be the first to buy one and will probably take it with the extra counterweight option!
So before I hand this question over to you, our loyal readers, let’s recap.
Since the UK and Europe adopted high reach excavators, recycling rates have gone up and accident levels have gone down. And the only major First World nation that has failed to adopt these machines – and which still has a laughable recycling record and a lamentable safety record – is the mighty US of A.
So, after what must seem like an age, here’s that question again. Why have US demolition contractors failed to grasp the high reach excavator concept?
We look forward to reading your contributions and suggestions.
Video footage from Chinese implosion shows massive discharge of fly rock.
According to the English-language voice over, the implosion of this incomplete and abandoned high-rise structure in the Chinese city of Zhongshan took place in a residential area. Which calls into question the huge amount of debris discharged by the blast.
John Campbell of Campbell Associates discusses sound level monitoring and prediction.
This is one of those unique occasions when we’re in danger of becoming trapped perpetually in a space/time continuum warp of self-promotion. So bear with us, as this is about to get complicated.
Back in June, we made an audio podcast on the subject of acoustic modeling in which we interviewed Campbell Associates’ founder John Campbell. As a result of that podcast, John was approached to speak at the Institute of Demolition Engineers’ Roadshow event that took place at Mercedes Benz World last week. During John’s excellent presentation, which we have captured on video here, he actually played back a part of our podcast. So, to recap, we were recording him playing back our recording of him, for future broadcast alongside that original recording!
Right, while we go for a sit down in a dark room, here’s the video. It’s a wee bit dark but it makes for an interesting 10 minutes. And don’t worry, we have edited out the bit of John talking to us preiously. If you’d like to hear that original audio, click here
