Economic downturn hits profits at US’ largest waste management company.

Waste Management Inc, North America’s largest trash hauler, said fourth-quarter profit fell 29 percent because of a drop in U.S. construction and lower prices for recycled materials.

Net income declined to $218 million, or 44 cents a share, from $309 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, Houston-based Waste Management said today in a statement. Sales decreased 7.5 percent to $3.1 billion.

Read the full story here.

Harbour developers use web cam to chart demolition progress

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. has launched Harbor Cam as an online viewpoint for people to watch progress of the $315 million Canal Side project along lower Main Street in Buffalo, New York.

The camera, set on the top floor of HSBC Center, gives a bird’s eye view of the Canal Side property that extends from the New York State Thruway south towards HSBC Arena. The camera went live yesterday afternoon.

For the full story and to access the web cam feed, please click here.

Canadian press reports on the dismantling of a water tower in Orillia.

A 26-metre water tower bearing the city’s name has stood in Orillia for more than 50 years, but the decaying landmark was beginning to wear out its welcome. One of the challenges to its demolition was that the six-legged tower stood on a small lot, about 21 by 46 metres, surrounded by residential housing. If the tower were toppled, it could have caused damage to surrounding properties built in its shadow.

For the full story from Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, click here.

Howard Button, CEO of the UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors, has become the latest industry personality to climb aboard the Twitter bandwagon.

As we have reported in recent days/weeks, the Twitter phenomenon has spread through the tech and celebrity worlds and is now being embraced as a rapid-fire communications tool by a whole host of individuals, companies and organisations.

Twitter users wishing to see what Howard is doing should for to www.twitter.com/nfdcceo and hit the follow button below his photo. (If you haven’t done so already, you might also want to go to www.twitter.com/demolitionnews and follow us too)

And if there are any other demolition industry Twitter users out there, please let us have your Twitter name so we can see what you’re doing.

Report on the demolition of a student village at Manchester’s Salford University.

The contract to demolish a large student village on the Salford University campus and create a wooded landscaped area has been successfully carried out by Manchester demolition contractors J Freeley Ltd.

The student village, situated on a 1.2 hectare site at Castle Irwell, had suffered from lack of investment and had become surplus to the University’s requirements, so the decision was taken to demolish it. The village comprised a total of 46 housing units in a number of three-storey accommodation blocks.

Health & safety was the top priority for the contract administrator, Paul Kirkup, from Salford University. Because of the high amount of heavy vehicle and demolition equipment movement within the populated area, separate entrance to the demolition site was constructed exclusively for J Freeley vehicles. J Freeley operatives were given a tight deadline to complete the demolition during a holiday period when few students were attending university.

“Vehicle movements were tightly managed and regulated throughout the project to ensure there was minimal disruption to the small number of university staff and students in the occupied parts of the accommodation area,” said Kirkup. He pointed out that sustainability was another key issue addressed during the demolition project.

“We were keen that as much demolition waste as possible generated during the project was recycled for future use rather than going to landfill. All metals, timbers, plastics and other materials were streamed and sent away for recycling. A total of 10,000 tonnes of concrete and bricks were
crushed and processed on site for use as recycled aggregates for future construction and civil engineering projects.”

As well as carrying out asbestos removal and demolition of the accommodation blocks, J Freeley were responsible for a range of ancillary works including service disconnection, car park construction and fencing. It carried out extensive landscaping amongst the retained trees. It then planted out the cleared area to create a green open space between the accommodation blocks still in use at Castle Irwell. J Freeley also laid footpaths through the area.

Able UK sets to work on dismantling of French aircraft carrier.

The arrival of a former French aircraft carrier at the Able UK TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre) facility at Able Seaton Port ‘marks a significant step forward in establishing Teesside and the North East at the forefront of an industry with tremendous potential for growth—and job creation—in the years ahead.’

That was how Peter Stephenson, Chairman and Chief Executive of Able UK, summed up the significance of the company’s success in gaining the contract to recycle the vessel Q790—formerly known as the Clemenceau—in what will be the largest ship recycling project ever undertaken in Europe.

The 32,780 tonne vessel—255 metres long and with a deck width of 51.2 metres was manoeuvred into TERRC after its 1,150 kilometre journey from Brest which commenced last Tuesday. It is now berthed alongside four American and three British vessels that are also undergoing recycling. It is expected that the actual dismantling process will begin this summer and last for around a year, providing 200 jobs.

“This is an important day for our company and the region as a whole. This was seen throughout the world as a highly significant contract and the fact that it has come to our facility demonstrates that we are recognised as a world leader in the field of ship and marine structures recycling,” Stephenson says.

“It should be remembered that we have been involved in this activity for many years—indeed currently at TERRC we are involved in the recycling of the North West Hutton platform, – the largest Oil Platform yet to be removed from the North Sea oil fields.

“It is to the credit of the French government that they recognised the importance of ensuring that the Q790 should be recycled at a facility where the work will be undertaken safely and under the best available environmental conditions. I believe their action underlines the growing understanding in the World of the responsibility that ship owners need to ensure that redundant vessels are no longer merely abandoned on the beaches of developing countries. I strongly urge governments and environmental bodies to emulate the French example and to seek to outlaw cheap rate, unregulated and dangerous practices that pose an ongoing threat to both the environment and unprotected workforces.

“With the biggest dry dock in the world, Able Seaton Port is clearly established as world leader with the potential for other major construction projects in the environmental and renewable energy sectors, including wind and wave power technology.

“We have faced many challenges in reaching this point, not least in seeking to combat a campaign that has consistently chosen to ignore the facts and the environmental realities. But our confidence and determination has been fully vindicated today.”

“We are proud of what we do and we should be celebrating the fact that here in Hartlepool we have a world leader, employing local people and supporting local businesses. We can now start the process of recruitment and by Easter we should have the full complement of 200 on board involved in the recycling works.”

The controversial B of the Bang sculpture has been earmarked for dismantling.

As we speculated recently, the controversial B of the Bang sculpture in Manchester is to be demolished following problems with its stell spikes.

Read the full story here.

Higher-than-expected levels of asbestos delay the refurbishment of the Savoy Hotel

UK trade magazine Contract Journal reports that the £100m refurbishment of London’s Savoy Hotel is running at least four months behind schedule after the historic building was found to be riddled with asbestos.

Specialist asbestos contractor Caswell was awarded a £3.2m contract in December 2007 which was due to finish last November. But Caswell still has a team on site after higher levels of asbestos than expected were discovered at one of London’s most famous hotels.

Read the full story here.

BREAKING NEWS: Demolition worker trapped by falling debris.

Word is just reaching us that a demolition worker has been trapped by falling debris on a contract in Columbus, Ohio. According to NBC4i, rescue crews were called to a South Side demolition site Tuesday afternoon after a worker was injured in a three metre shaft.

Details remain sketchy at the time of writing but more details can be found here.