“Industry surrounded by liars and thieves” according to AED blaster-in-chief.
Now Eric’s a busy guy. In between running one of the US’ foremost explosive demolition companies, Eric and his wife Lisa have a second life as celebrities thanks to their reality TV show, The Imploders, which is due to air Stateside on TLC on 6 May. So to make life easier for everyone, we agreed to send him a set of questions in advance of the interview so that he could give the questions some consideration before trying to conduct a live, trans-Atlantic telephone interview.
True to form, however, Eric decided to do things his own way and actually responded to our questions in writing which means that you’ll have to read the interview rather than listen to it. But trust us, it’s worth it.
What Eric’s answers reveal is that he is a man that is passionate about his work and the industry in which he operates; a man that is frustrated at many aspects of the US demolition business.
Eric is clearly not a guy to mess with. During Demolition News’ first communications with him, he told us in no uncertain terms that “he’d seen our type come and go” and largely dismissed the aims of this website.
However, upon reading his answers (below), we have a new-found respect for Eric Kelly; one of a dying breed.
How did you get into the blasting business in the first place?
“I am a self taught blaster that watched my Dad demo buildings. He was a Pennsylvania coal miner that explained to me the fundamentals of blasting.”
What attracted you to the business?
“I saw my Dad blast a smokestack. I was hooked and trained my desire to explosively demolish buildings, etc.”
What are the biggest challenges facing the US demolition industry as a whole, and the blasting sector in particular?
“The US market has very few players and has plenty of work for the shooters here. AED one ups the competition by tripping buildings and smokestacks.”
There seems to be a lot of talk about who has done the biggest, tallest or longest implosion – What do you make of all that?
“This I do know to be fact…one has to have done the work “successfully” to be considered as “the biggest, tallest, most, etc.”. I’ve successfully shot the largest, most, tallest. The “other” claims should be clearly investigated to find out they weren’t very “successful”. I let the competition try to one up each other and I, the best indicator is loss man hours and loss runs. AED takes a substantial market share of the US implosion business, Thank God.”
There are concerns, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, that there are very few young people coming into the explosive demolition business. You are famous for running a family business – Are you encouraging your children to follow in your footsteps?
“I sincerely believe good demolition Engineers and Blasters are a dying breed. With all the high priced gadgets and equipment out there, it takes away from the old fashioned “smash and dash” aspect of demolition. It taught many people the true science of the demo business. Myself included. The industry is over regulated to the point that “Mom and Pop” are close to being done.”
Given the noise, dust and disruption that blasting can cause, do you foresee a time when it is no longer considered a viable demolition method?
“The noise only happens for a short period. Conventional demo is much more disruptive than implosions. As long as people keep getting hurt in conventional demo and the buildings don’t shrink…I’ll be busy for many years to come. What I do see is there is such a difficulty starting new implosion companies, if you don’t work for one of the major players, slim chance of success! We live in such a litigious society, unless you have a good resume, most companies won’t use you.”
If you were made Secretary of Demolition tomorrow, what would be your first change to the current US demolition business?
“I would stress the discipline, ethics and morality needed to change the image of our industry. The industry is surrounded by liars and thieves. That’s right!!! I said it and you can quote it. Of course, there are some very honorable contractors out there. They’re the ones that don’t have to get every job they bid on; the ones that pay their bills on time and refuse to let lawyers run their company.
Overall, the industry took a change in the early 80’s when certain contractors offered to pay the owner for jobs they should have been paid for. The result was a catastrophic scandal that hurt the industry to this day. I have a wealth of experience seeing our industry go from hard working people to gamblers.
The bad mouthing in the demolition business is past pathetic. The truly sad thing is, society is acclimated to this business practice.”
