Scottish prison demolition project exceeds recycling targets.

A Scottish prison demolition project, managed by contractor Carillion, has beaten its own recycling target of 98 per cent by hitting 99.5 per cent. Less than half a per cent of waste from the site was sent to landfill meaning the project was very close to achieving Scotland’s zero waste aspirations.

Read the full story here.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) to unveil a new high-reach excavator at Intermat.

Visitors to the Intermat exhibition in Paris later this month will be able to view the latest demolition offering from Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) N.V.

Key among the new products will be the ZX470LCH-3 equipped with a 27 metre, three-stage high reach boom and can carry a 2,400 kg tool. In standard 25 metre high configuration, the unit can wield a 3,000 kg tool.

The company will also display an articulated demolition/excavating front end equipment (pictured). This versatile equipment can be used for medium high reach demolition (16.5 metre) and tough foundation demolition and normal excavation duties. This unit can be used with tools of up to 4,500 kg.

Presence of red-tailed hawks delays light tower demolition.

In the past few weeks, I have written at length about the subject of demolition projects being delayed because of the presence of bats. However, they tend to do things bigger in the US so we were interested to read this story about an American project that has been delayed by the presence of a pair of red-tailed hawks.

Click here for further details.

C&D Consultancy has kindly provided a link to a preview video from the Detonators series.

Fans of demolition implosions – and let’s face it, who isn’t – should head over to the C&D Consultancy website where they have kindly posted a link to a new preview video from the forthcoming “The Detonators” TV series.

Featuring the controlled implosion of the Sighthill towers in Glasgow, the vide features some truly spectacular close-up footage.

JCB has officially opened its new £40 million excavator factory.

With its former excavator factory now being dismantled by Armoury Demolition, JCB has officially opened the doors of its new £40 million Heavy Products factory in the company’s traditional Uttoxeter home. That opening is captured here in the last (for now) of our exclusive JCB videos.

The Health and Safety Executive has published an updated downloadable leaflet on leptospirosis. The short guide explains types, symptoms and prevention. The disease can be caught when the bacteria enters the body through cuts etc or mouth, throat and eye linings after contact with infected urine or contaminated water, such as in sewers, ditches, ponds and slow-flowing rivers.

Further details of the new leaflet can be found here.

Armoury Demolition is taking down the former JCB excavator factory.

NFDC member Armoury Demolition is using a host of JCB equipment to demolish the former JCB heavy products factory. Demolition News has exclusive video footage of the kit in action:

Demolition News was granted an exclusive video interview with JCB CEO, Matthew Taylor.

To coincide with the official opening of its new Heavy Products factory in Staffordshire, equipment giant JCB granted Demolition News an exclusive video interview with CEO, Matthew Taylor:

JCB has unveiled the JS360, the latest addition to its heavy line of excavators.

Earlier this week, the trade and technical press from across Europe descended upon JCB’s sparkling new Heavy Products factory for the official launch of both the factory and the first new product to be developed there; the JS360.

In this exclusive video, JCB’s business development manager – heavy line sales, Ken Covell provides an insight to the machine and its suitability for demolition applications.

Demolition marketing is moving online.

I have been writing about demolition and construction for almost a quarter of a century now and, during that time, I have seen my fair share of changes, both in the industry that I write about and in the way in which I receive and pass on that information.

When I started out in the world of business to business journalism, it wasn’t unusual to receive hand-written press releases (seriously) accompanied by Polaroid photos of men and machines in action. Things improved with the advent of personal computing although, in truth, I still receive photos that were clearly taken using a mobile phone and which are, therefore, unusable. For my part, I have always been a committed fan of the printed page. To this day, I still proof whatever I write in printed form as I am happier holding a piece of paper than I am reading a screen.

But, as Bob Dylan once said, “the times, they are a’changin”. Today, I rarely receive press releases or photos through the post; everything arrives via email. Furthermore, while I still produce several magazines, a huge amount of my words and photos are now distributed exclusively via the Internet and email.

And so we come to the point of this short article.

When I produce a magazine, it is sent to around 6,000 named individuals who (I sincerely hope) enjoy the articles and appreciate the work that has gone into their production. The trouble is, I have no way of knowing, as very few ever take the trouble to let me know.

But when I produce some content for the web, not only is the potential audience far larger, it is also considerably more vocal.

Take for example the Extreme Cab Test video that was added to the www.demolitionnews.com website back in August. Since that time, it has attracted more than 20,000 viewers and I have received numerous comments via both www.demolitionnews.com and also via YouTube.

And this is not an isolated example. Even relatively low-key video interviews with industry pundits receive hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of views and dozens of comments.

I am certainly NOT suggesting that the day of the printed magazine is over. But be in no doubt – The writing’s on the wall for traditional forms of media, and those that fail to grasp and embrace modern forms of marketing could soon find themselves falling behind their more forward-thinking competitors.