Deal for former GM plant in Pontiac may create 30-50 jobs

RACER Trust has sold a large former General Motors Corp. plant to a Michigan-based firm that is planning renovations and new industrial development.

Lapeer-based North American Dismantling Corp. purchased the former Fiero Assembly property on Baldwin Avenue in Pontiac, RACER said Wednesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

North American Dismantling Corp. said it has signed a letter of intent with an employer interested in occupying the property after renovations take place. NADC will identify the company once a deal is finalized. NADC said the new development would initially create 30 to 50 new jobs, with potential for expansion.

GM had used the site as a warehouse until 2009; production, however, ended in the 1980s.

Read more here.

15th Street Bridge demolition in Allentown to begin tonight

Demolition of the 15th Street Bridge in Allentown will begin tonight, a major step in the long-awaited bridge replacement project.

The bridge was shut down for a year starting in September as part of the $8.4 million replacement project.

Demolition was originally slated to begin last week, but was postponed until Monday because the contractor, J.D. Eckman Inc., could not get a crane they needed on time.

That start date was delayed again until today due to Superstorm Sandy, said Richard Young, the city’s director of public works.

“We’re happy to be finally starting the demolition,” Young said.

Read more here.

Controlled explosion brings down power station boiler house.

A controlled explosion brought down the boilerhouse building at Inverkip Power Station this afternoon.

The steel structure – approximately 57 metres high, 60 metres long and 39 metres wide – vanished in seconds.

The demolition represents a key stage in the clearance process which has been under way at the sprawling site for two years, with the defunct power station land earmarked for a major residential development.

SES Demolition blasts silo at Stoke Quarry.

Like many other demolition professionals, explosives veteran Dick Green of Independent Explosive Engineers Limited is currently packing his bags for his annual sojourn to the Demolition Awards in Amsterdam.

But before he left, he took the time out to send us this exclusive video of a silo blasted by SES Demolition for Philpott Demolition at the Moneystone Quarry near Stoke.

Never mind the things that go bump in the night, what about those that turn up in broad daylight?

Halloween is upon us, so let’s get this started,
We must warn that what follows, is NOT for the faint-hearted

Our tale is a short one, but it’s also quite sad
And it tells of a system, that went suddenly bad

For years he was one of us, a part of the clan,
But all of a sudden, came a dastardly plan

To charge for his time, steal the industry’s soul,
His purpose, of course, to put men on the dole

So quickly he came, and demolition he blighted,
But like vampires before him, he could not come uninvited

Yet his grabbing claw and his glaze of pure ice,
Would appear if a neighbour summoned him thrice

He’d be there in a flash, no-one saw him coming,
They just heard the sound of the meter running

Draining their coffers, and leaving them broke,
Like the victims of someone’s worst Halloween joke

So although times are hard, and we’re barely surviving,
Along he comes, all keen and conniving

To roam your sites with a glint in his eye,
And with a flash of his pen, leave you high and dry

So this Halloween, check your safety plan
And keep your eyes peeled, for the HSE man

Work to demolish a “hated” building in Bournemouth will start on 5 November.

The former Imax site has been labelled an eyesore by residents who have complained it blocks sea views.

Most work for the first two months will involve stripping out the contents of the building with dismantling of the structure starting in January.

The site is to be transformed into a new public area hosting music concerts, markets and open-air performances due to open in June.

The cinema opened in 2002, nearly three years behind schedule, and then closed in 2005 after having problems showing 3D films.

At the height of its infamy in 2005, the structure was voted one of the UK’s most hated buildings in the Channel 4 programme Demolition.

Read more here.

Latest video shows Twinkletoes high reach in fine form.

As the senior management of Nikau Contractors head for Amsterdam to take part in this week’s Demolition Awards, the company has uploaded a video that shows just why it is a contender in those awards.

Following on from earlier, and similarly striking footage of the PWC building being systematically deconstructed using a 65 metre high reach excavator, this latest video maintains that high standard to create one of the best time-lapse videos we have seen for quite some time:

Timelapse PWC October 2012 from Nikau Contractors on Vimeo.

Demolition estimated at 300 million Euros set to cost just seven million.

You know that horrible feeling when give a customer a price and they accept it without a moment’s hesitation; a sure indicator that they would have paid a bit f not a lot more?

Imagine how the contractor on this contract feels then. Officials had estimated it would cost 300 million Euros to demolish the unfinished Algarrobico Hotel in Spain. But local newspaper reports now suggest that the work will be done for just seven million Euros.

Environment Minister Miguel Arias Canete has confirmed both central government and the Junta are ‘fully in agreement’ that the 411-room eyesore should be knocked down.

In November Madrid and Andalucia signed an agreement stating central government will shoulder the cost of demolition while the Junta will clear up the debris and restore the park back to its original state.

Amateur cameraman captures all the action of car park demolition.

O’Brien Group may be working a long way from its home in the North East but it is bringing the big guns to tackle the demolition of a car park in the heart of Luton in Bedfordshire.

Check out the excellent amateur video below:

Demolition costs soar on concrete cancer council HQ

UK construction publication Construction Enquirer is reporting that a Welsh council will have to pay millions to fill a massive hole underneath its former headquarters which are facing demolition after suffering from concrete cancer.

The space occupied by emergency roms below the 1970s County Hall in Cwmbran is too big to be filled by the rubble of the six-storey building.

Monmouthshire and Torfaen councils had hoped to make £4 million from the site’s sale.

But the cost of filling in the void has cut likely earnings to £275,000.

The building opened in 1974 and closed in March after a report showed it would cost £30m to repair after a report showed it was suffering from concrete cancer.

The building is currently empty while contractors submit bids for the soft-stripping work ahead of full demolition next year.

Read more here.