The judging panel for the D&Ri demolition awards has now been largely confirmed following a meeting between D&Ri and the European Demolition Association at the end of last week. It was agrees that the panel for this, and subsequent annual Award events, will include the three senior office-holders of the EDA – the president, vice president and past president – in addition to other leading industry figures. This means that in 2009, Yves Canessa (president), Giuseppe Panseri (vice president) and Jan Brandis (past president) will make up the EDA contribution to the judging for the 2009 Demolition Awards to be held in Amsterdam on 6th November 2009.

These three will be joined by seven other leading figures from the demolition industry around the world. From the UK will come Howard Button, chief executive of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) and John Woodward, newly elected vice president of the Institute of Demolition Engineers. From Germany will come Walter Werner, president of the Deutscher Abbruchverband (German Demolition Association). From the Netherlands comes Kees de Groot, president of Babex, the Dutch demolition association, and from Denmark comes Henrik Bonneson, a consultant working with COWI. French explosive demolition specialist Pierre Burgeure has also been approached to join the panel.

Finally, the North American industry will also be represented on the panel through the presence of William Moore of Brandenburg Industrial Service and past president of the NDA.

Further information can also be found here

An excavator trying to demolish a New England home flipped over Monday afternoon, crashing into the backside of another home.

Read the story and see the photo here.

A builder who demolished his handiwork after a customer did not pay has had more than £3m of unpaid bills registered on his website.

Nigel Gray set up a website roguecustomer.com after he knocked down a £15,000 porch and conservatory in Shoreham, West Sussex when the tenant missed deadlines for payment.

Read the full story here.

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.