Happy Birthday Valerie…

Valerie Stroud, national secretary of the Institute of Demolition Engineers,celebrates her birthday.

Word reaches us that Valerie Stroud, national secretary of the Institute of Demolition Engineers and undisputed “power behind the throne” of many recent IDE presidents, is celebrating her birthday today.

So many happy returns Valerie!!

Win a skid steer model…

Demolition News and C&D Consultancy is offering readers a chance to win a skid steer model.

Judging by the response that they always attract, our competitions to win machine models are extremely popular. In fact, they’re so popular that we’re currently out of stock of models; which is why we welcomed the kind offer from John Woodward at our sponsor C&D Consultancy who offered us a very nice 1:32 scale model of a Komatsu K815-5 skid steer loader as a competition prize.

To enter the draw for this machine, all you need to do is submit your answer to this very simple question:

On 1 August 2009, C&D Consultancy will host an asbestos and demolition safety awareness course. But in which English city will the course take place?

Please send your answers via email to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk, adding Skid Steer Contest in the subject line.

The winning entry will be drawn on Friday 31 July 2009.

Lowry Bridge implosion…

The Lowry Bridge in North Eastern Minneapolis was imploded yesterday.

Advanced Explosive Demolition Inc. used 320 charges to topple the Lowry Avenue Bridge across the Mississippi River Sunday morning, severing a connection between north and northeast Minneapolis that had held since 1905.

Exclusive Interview with EDA presdient, Yves Canessa…

Demolition News has been granted an exclusive interview with EDA president, Yves Canessa.

EDA President, Yves Canessa
EDA President, Yves Canessa
In an exclusive interview with Demolition News, European Demolition Association president Yves Canessa lays out his thoughts on the demolition industry of today, and tomorrow.

You have now been EDA president for more than a year. What do you think you have brought to the job?
Each president brings their own personal touch when trying to respect the idea that is the EDA. The task is immense and the time goes by so quickly. I simply try to bring the EDA to life through the research of new ideas that could permanently establish the association’s position and make it more attractive and representative.

What do you believe has been your greatest achievement as EDA president?
I am half-way through my time in office, the Bureau has approved a partnership with the D&Ri magazine for the organisation of an industry awards night. We are also working towards the future with groups of researchers looking into community schemes concerning the improvement of demolition methods. Success doesn’t exist in this type of work. You must simply have an ideal and convince our members of it so that they can continue in the vein that you believe to be correct, and to show them that they are right to be members of the EDA.

Even though the delegate numbers were down, the EDA seminars in Istanbul and Nice were a great success and the association now seems stronger. To what do you attribute this?
Indeed, there are several reasons for this.
• Firstly due to ensuring the loyalty of a certain number of members who enjoy meeting up twice a year to discuss their passions and their problems.
• Also as a result of Europe becoming increasingly political we are slowly but surely becoming aware that the daily trials and tribulations that we experience in our respective countries are exactly the same as those experienced in other countries and that it would surely be a good idea to show Brussels that we exist and that we are a force to be reckoned with.
• Finally our new secretariat is far more involved than before in communicating with national associations, companies and suppliers. This is a major asset to our development.

The new secretariat seems to have given the association a greater degree of stability. What are your plans for the future of the association?
I would like it if they were in a position to have real exchanges with the secretariats of national associations and if, once a year, a meeting between all of the national secretaries could take place. This would allow the EDA to be more involved in each country and for each country to be more involved in the EDA, and would, without a doubt, enable other members to get to know our association a bit better. We have to work hard with communication. The language barrier is a major concern, but it shouldn’t be an excuse for us.

Although the German and Dutch federations are still not back on board, the EDA has enjoyed an expansion with new members/delegates from Belarus, Russia, Poland and Turkey. Are these the future of the association or are you still hopeful of attracting the Germans and Dutch back again?
Holland is part of the EDA! The Germans on the other hand were one of the founding nations of the EDA, but for their own reasons they preferred to leave our association. I couldn’t possibly comment on whether or not we hope to have Germany back in the EDA. We must continue on our own path and keep focused on the future; we must concentrate on the members that we have, appreciative them and show that the EDA is capable of satisfying their current members and attracting new members. After that, everything else will take care of itself!
With regards to the countries that you mentioned, it is evident that we should continue to promote the EDA in all areas of the European community and ensure the loyalty of the new arrivals.

During your inaugural speech, you mentioned that you wanted to encourage younger members. Stefano Panseri and William Sinclair are already making huge contributions – Are there more to come?
Stefano and William do an immense amount of work, and I thank them. We need many more but I am reassured because I see new members at each conference. All of the national associations should be convinced of the EDA’s interest. We need to meet with them one by one. Its then and then only that young people will feel motivated to work with us. Also, we shouldn’t forget the “not-so-young” either, who must “pass the torch” of their knowledge on to others.

2009 is set to be a big year for the EDA with its involvement in the Demolition Awards. Is this the year that the EDA regains its former glory?
Why regain its former glory ; did we lose it? Seriously though, the EDA has been through a transition period, times of economic crisis, organisational changes, but this is also what we go through with our companies all the time. Despite all of that our capabilities remain intact and my role as president is to find solutions to correctly apply these capabilities. The EDA should be present wherever demolition is being spoken about. This is my, our challenge.

If you could be president of the European Union for a single day, what one thing would you change for the better of the demolition industry?
I think that I would try the standardise the different national regulations so that the so-called free movement of companies through the European Union is actually possible, and at the same price for everyone and not just one-way which is so often the case.

Buckingham on a Roll…

Work underway on demolition of famous Rolls Royce Plc factory in Bristol.

Buckingham Group Contracting has started work on a significant demolition contract for Rolls Royce Plc to clear the 27 hectare East Works Site at Filton in Bristol. The contract is being undertaken as part of a property consolidation exercise for Rolls Royce Plc and the project valued at in-excess of £1m includes extensive asbestos removal, decommissioning, dismantling and demolition works which are programmed to be completed by the end of the Summer.

The works are being undertaken by Buckingham Group’s in-house Demolition and Regeneration Division. This factor, together with Rolls Royce’s preference to work with an established Main Contractor underpinned Buckingham’s success on being awarded this contract.

Buckingham’s in-house Land Regeneration Division offers a complete brownfield land development solution encompassing demolition, remediation, services decommissioning, civils infrastructure and new build. By offering this Complete Construction Solution on an all-risk, lump sum basis, Buckingham Group has built up an extensive portfolio of successfully completed projects for a range of Blue Chip Clients.

“Following further significant investment in specialist plant and equipment, we are delighted to have secured this demolition project based on the price and quality of our service,” says director Tim Brown commented. “Buckingham Group Contracting have an experienced Land Regeneration Team and provide a high quality service which together enable us to make a major impact in the remediation, demolition, clearance and asbestos removal sector.’’

Tragic death of Irish demolition man…

Irish demolition man Joe O’Connell and his wife Ann have been killed in the US.

There are times when fancy words just aren’t appropriate and this, tragically, is one of those times. We have just heard that Joe O’Connell – a familiar face at National Federation of Demolition Contractors and Institute of Demolition Engineers events – and his wife Ann have been killed in an horrific car crash in the US.

Further details can be found here.

Our thoughts are with their family at this tragic time.

Washington site contaminated with PCBs…

Demolition workers are racing to clean up a Spokane site contaminated with PCBs.

In a move welcomed by Washington’s Department of Ecolocy, a former city parcels building is being demolished to allow the ground upon which it stands to be thoroughly remediated before PCBs from the site contaminate groundwater.

Click here for the full story.

And for more information on PCB contamination, please listen to our exclusive audio podcast.

Concord chimney video…

A new video shows how a 70 metre chimney is being “munched” to the ground.

In certain parts of Europe, the challenge of bringing down a 70 metre high concrete chimney wold have been met with a call for a high reach excavator. But in the US, where such machines are still onsidered somewhat “new-fangled” by some demolition contractors, they take a very different approach as this excellent video shows.

To the victor, the spoils…

Demolition News’ photo competition winner Alan Jones gets his prize.

Brown & Mason’s Alan Jones, winner of our recent photo competition, has stepped in front of the camera for once to pose proudly with his prize; a scale model of a high reach Komatsu excavator.

Demolition Summit Update…

Lindsay Gale of D&Ri magazine provides an update on this year’s Demolition Summit.

The recent European Demolition Association conference in Nice, France provided a useful opportunity for D&Ri editor Lindsay Gale to update delegates on the progress of the Demolition Summit and associated Demolition Awards that are scheduled to take place in Amsterdam later this year.

And Lindsay’s speech also gives us an excellent opportunity to test drive our new 15 second “pre-roll” ad from the good people of JCB, even though it does underline the difference between what can be achieved by a self-financing website and a multi-national manufacturer with an entire marketing department!