A new video showing the demolition of a huge pellet plant in South Australia.
Personally, we preferred the original video to Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” featuring an unlikely spectacle of Christopher Walken dancing; but this is pretty good nonetheless.
Exclusive audio interview with Alex Albon, operations director of Earth Exchange.
In the latest of our exclusive audio interviews, we spoke to Alex Albon, operations director of Earth Exchange, to hear how his company is facilitating the recycling and reuse of demolition arisings, reducing haulage costs, and lowering the industry’s environmental impact.
The design of an exciting prototype demolition robot is doing the rounds on the Internet.
Let’s face it, demolition robots are so last century. Don’t get me wrong, Brokk and its competitors make some damn fine equipment which is unsurpassed in certain applications. But like the mini exavators and hydraulic hammers pon which they’re based, demolition robot technology hasn’t really moved forward that much in the past 20 years or so, save for a slight narrowing of dimension and a slight increase in percussive power.
But take a look at this.
As far as we can tell, the intriguingly-named Kaput.R demolition robot does not exist outside the mind of its creator and the computer upon which these images were rendered. However, what intrigues us even more is that the designers appear to have revealed some actual specifications for the machine, as follows:
Demolition News is currently trying to contact the designers for further information and will keep you posted. But, in the meantime….we want one!
Caterpillar has announced a stimulus package to help recession-hit customers.
At a time when equipment fleet operators across the world are facing economic and regulatory challenges, Caterpillar Inc. and its global dealer network has unveiled a “stimulus package” designed to help owners work through equipment-related concerns.
Whether those concerns are do-it-yourself maintenance, affordable fleet expansion, financing, operator training or contract maintenance/repair options, the overall goal of the stimulus package is to help preserve the integrity of the machine-owner’s business.
Caterpillar recently has added on-demand videos available through the Cat website and offering maintenance tips for do-it-yourself cost savings. Live online information also is available now through the Parts-and-Service discussion forum. In addition to those new services, Caterpillar and Cat dealers have packaged proven product support and financial services to help customers in most aspects of machine acquisition, operation and maintenance.
Full details of the stimulus package can be found here:
Take some ill-advised excavation, stir in a tower block, add water and…
William Sinclair, managing director of Safedem, explosive demolition expert and 2nd vice president of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors has just forwarded to us a set of photos that show what happens when you combine some over-zealous Chinese groundworkers, a torrential downpour, and a tower block.
According to the accompanying English- language captions, an underground garage was being dug on the south side of the building, to a depth of 4.6 meters. The excavated material was being piled up on the north side, to a height of 10 meters. However, the building experienced uneven lateral pressure from south and north. This resulted in a lateral pressure of 3,000 tonnes, which was greater than the pilings could tolerate, and the building toppled over in the southerly direction.
Here’s the result:
Work is underway to make safe the Cowan Mill in Lewiston, Maine gutted by fire recently.
We have just come across a new video showing the first stage of the demolition of the former Cowan Mill at Lewiston, Maine that was gutted by fire just a few weeks ago. Although, based upon this interesting use of a mobile elevating work platform (1:30 of the video) and the earlier footage from the Grafton Mill contract, we’re seriously considering a new thread entitled “why Americans shouldn’t demolish anything, ever“.
Below is a video that captures the fire that made this demolition necessary:
Video/Audio of little Irish girl asking for her school to be demolished, along with her teachers.
The following has been doing the rounds on the Internet for quite some time now and, to be honest, we originally chose to ignore it. However, having now listened again, it just gets funnier and funnier and is worthy of airing.
To cut a long story short, it is a recording of a prank call made by an Irish schoolgirl to a local demolition company, asking them to demolish her school with the teachers inside because they give her too much homework.
Enjoy.
Never mind the health and safety, let’s make a demolition video!
As regular visitors to demolition sites across Europe and the US, we are very aware that health and safety requirements vary from country to country. However, it never ceases to amaze us when even the most obvious common sense is abandoned.
Take a look at this video and let’s see just how many examples of bad practice we can spot.
I will set the ball rolling with the obvious undercutting of the building, leaving the upper part top-heavy (it’s worth noting that the video switches to stop-frame photography when the inevitable collapse occurs 1:10 minutes in) but please, let us have your own thoughts and comments in the comments box below.
We’re not sure which is the shakier; the excavator operator or the person behind the camera!
Video showing the demolition of the former GE Lighting building in Enfield.
