Feature-length video interview with the outgoing president of the IDE.

Late last week, we brought you a sneak preview of an exclusive video interview with IDE president, John Woodward.

Now, just 24 hours before he hands over the reins to his successor Steve Jack, we can bring you the full length interview.

In it, Woodward is brutally honest about his presidency, the challenges that lie ahead for the Institute, and his hopes for the future of the organisation and the industry he has served for the past two years.

And, in the final two minutes, Woodward delivers an inspiring and often emotional message to IDE members.

Check back tomorrow for a feature-length interview with Woodward’s successor, Steve Jack as he takes over the hot seat at tomorrow’s IDE annual general meeting.

Water tower falls dangerously close to excavator.

Modern excavators come complete with all the mod-cons an operator could ever want Air conditioning, CD players, comfortable seating. Hell, some will even make the coffee for you.

But while the operator’s cab might sound like an idyllic place to be, cocooned from the noise, dust and worries of the outside world, you just couldn’t pay me enough to do this job:

Blast merely destabilises Slovakian bridge.

Following a fatal accident during its construction, Slovakian officials gave the order that a bridge was to be demolished using high explosives. But the incomplete bridge clearly had other ideas.

Despite several attempts, the bridge remained standing, although somewhat less stable.

The incomplete bridge will now be felled using heavy equipment:

Call for demolition of “unsafe” Moon Plaza Hotel amid government claims that it is sound.

Independent experts are set to be brought in to assess the condition of one of Bahrain’s best-known hotels amid claims it allegedly poses a danger to the public.

The Manama Municipal Council claims the Moon Plaza Hotel in Umm Al Hassam is in such bad condition that it should be demolished.

The Manama Municipality last week presented councillors with the copy of an assessment by a group of senior government engineers, stating the hotel had a “sound architectural structure” and was only in need of repairs. It came after the council rejected a report submitted by a municipality inspector in August, who stated visible surface cracks had not affected its overall safety.

Manama councillors now want three specialist companies to be brought in to independently assess the hotel and have agreed to accept whatever they conclude.

Council vice-chairman Mohammed Mansoor said the safety of people was paramount. “For any regular individual and not an engineer, it is easy to notice that the hotel is dangerous and I don’t know why the government is insisting that it is sound,” he said. “This is a 50-year-old hotel and not a new building done with new building materials and the most it could stand without parts falling apart would be up to a maximum of three years.”

Read more here.

Director of equipment manufacturer barred from directorships for five years over unpaid VAT.

Craig Allsopp, the director of Demeq (UK) Ltd, a company which manufactured demolition equipment in Bradford, West Yorkshire, has been banned from acting as a director for five years for failing to pay VAT. The disqualification follows an investigation by The Insolvency Service.

Allsopp, 39, has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills that he will not act as a director of a limited company for five years with effect from 19th November 2012.

The investigation showed that Demeq (UK) Ltd failed to submit VAT returns from late 2001. In July 2010 tax officials undertook an inspection visit to the company, following which Allsopp agreed to complete the missing returns which were eventually completed and submitted in August and October 2010.

Demeq (UK) Ltd also failed to disclose £253,742 of VAT from sales in the period from August 2001 to May 2010.

Claire Entwistle, Director of Company Investigations (North), said:

“Mr Allsopp failed to ensure that the company complied with its statutory requirements to submit returns and pay VAT for a significant period, while continuing to charge VAT on its sales. “The company kept the money paid by its customers in tax. This is stealing twice – first from those customers who paid the VAT, and second from the Crown, to whom the VAT was owed. The public can be assured that The Insolvency Service will take tough action against directors who fail in their statutory obligations to hand over money collected on behalf of the Crown.”

Blast brings end to towers left empty for 20 years.

Around 100 pounds of explosives brought an end to a pair of nine-storey high former office blocks in the Pieve Emanuele district of Milan yesterday.

The two blocks had lain empty and abandoned for some 20 years. Their demolition – carried out by contractor General Smontaggi – is part of a 170 million regeneration programme for the area.

Read more here, or view the videos below:

Demolition workers injured as stairwell collapses at fire-hit apartment building.

Two demolition workers were injured yesterday afternoon when a stairwell collapsed at the site of an apartment building fire that left 250 residents homeless in July.

Tom McLain, first district battalion chief with the St. Louis Fire Department, said the two men were “conscious and talking” after being pulled by rescuers from the rubble at 3949 Lindell Boulevard shortly after 2 p.m.

The workers were trapped for about 20 minutes before being taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not available.

The men were working Sunday at the site where a fast-moving blaze damaged the four-story, 197-unit apartment structure on the evening of July 18.

Read more here.

Northeast Kansas bridge felled in implosion.

The Big Blue River Bridge on US 77 in Marshall County was closed for a short time last week as crews imploded the old bridge next to.

Cleanup work for the old bridge removal should be done in the next two weeks.

The newly completed $7.6 million Big Blue River Bridge replacement was unveiled at a ribbon cutting last month.

Read more here or view the video below:

Condemned Hotel Sterling caught up in legal battle, despite demolition permit.

Liability issues are holding up an agreement between Luzerne County and CityVest, owner of the condemned Hotel Sterling, to demolish the historic building.

Luzerne County Council and County Manager Robert Lawton agreed in September to spend up to $232,729 on demolition. But before the county releases any funds, the county wants CityVest and the city of Wilkes-Barre to agree to terms on title conveyance and limiting liability exposure.

Wilkes-Barre City Council was set to vote on a Sterling agreement Thursday but removed it from the agenda because the county and CityVest have not agreed to terms. The city has $260,000 from a state grant to spend on a demolition and would be in charge of the demolition, while the county would become owner of the 4-acre Sterling site afterward.

“I am concerned and disappointed the parties are not moving with expediency,” Luzerne County Councilman Rick Williams said, noting the city condemned the building as unsafe and diverted traffic away from it with a detour 14 months ago.

Read more here.

We are receiving reports that veteran blaster Bob Daphne has passed away.

Nine months after we announced the loss of blaster Phil Lowe, the explosive demolition business has lost another of its characters: Bob Daphne.

We received an email from Geraint Totty late last night to advise us that Daphne had succumbed to cancer earlier this week in his adopted home of South Africa.

Together with Mike Perkin, Daphne had been a part of the “all-Yorkshire” tag team that pushed Ogdens to prominence in the UK blasting sector during the 1970s and 80s. Indeed, Daphne was one of those featured in the now infamous “day trip to Birkenhead” video.

The pair subsequently relocated to South Africa to form Wreckers, a multi-disciplined demolition company that retained their reputation for blasting expertise.

“With no ear drums left and forearms the size of tree trunks from his days on the rock drill Bob will be missed by many,” concludes Geraint Totty. “I reckon his contribution to the demolition industry is well worth a mention.”