On Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 10am, the Lovett Coal Plant, one of the dirtiest burning coal plants in the US, had its 475-foot smokestack demolished today by Mirant Corporation.

View the video below:

In light of the growing severity of the problem of construction and demolition waste in Israel’s open spaces and in the aftermath of a State Comptroller report on the subject, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Finance have decided to set up a dedicated enforcement unit to deal with the problem.

The illegal disposal of construction waste is one of the most serious environmental problems currently facing Israel. In addition to landscape blight, improper disposal of construction waste is responsible for a host of environmental and ecological problems.

Full story here.

Plans to demolish one of Dublin’s oldest cinemas have been met with protests from neighbours who fear the building is packed with asbestos.

Developers plan to knock down the 1923-built Stella Cinema in Rathmines and replace it with a fitness centre and apartment block. The historic building, which closed in August 2004, was famous for hosting gigs by some of the top names in music during the 1970s, such as the Boomtown Rats and Elvis Costello.

Full story here.

Cherry Demolition, based in Houston, has received the 2008 Excellence in Construction award for its work and safety record during a six-month project dismantling sections of BP Amoco’s chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas. The award was presented to Cherry by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Houston.

Full story here.

UK demolition contractor PC Richardson has been fined £100,000 following a fatal accident in which one of its workers was killed while working on nuclear decommissioning at the Sellafield site in Cumbria.  Meanwhile PC Richardson’s client Sellafield Ltd was fined £150,000.

The penalties came after 36-year-old Richardson employee Neil Cannon was killed in January 2003 when he fell 95 metres while removing steelwork inside a pile chimney.

Read the full story here.

The UK’s Health & Safety Executive has hit a Scottish company with a prohibition notice following a site visit that identified “various hazards” including Whole Body Vibration, dust and noise.

The prohibition notice, which can be viewed on the attached pdf document, comes hot on the heels of the publication of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ crusher guidance note that recommend that operators are not onboard the machine while it is in operation.

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Yesterday (19 November 2008) saw the long awaited implosion of the Dan Rive Dye Mill in Danville, VA. This video takes a while to get to the actual implosion but its worth sticking with it to see the left-hand chimney/tower shed its skin as it falls.