The controlled demolition of a tower block viewed from two vantage points.

Churchills Steeplejacks’ training achievements rewarded with platinum award

Churchill Steeplejacks UK Ltd has become the proud recipient of the CSCS Platinum Award that recognises a companies achievement in attaining more than a 90 percent ratio of it’s workforce being CSCS accredited card holders.

Click here for full details.

Explosives used to break up ice jam in North Dakota.

Demolition engineers are a resourceful bunch. They have to be; they never know what the next job might entail. But even the most versatile among them might have thought twice about undertaking the explosive “demolition” of a sheet of ice roughly the size of a football field that had become stuck in the Missouri River. As a result of the backed-up water, some 1,700 Bismarck residents had been forced from their homes.

Read the full story here and check back later as we’re trying to secure some video footage of this unusual application.

Waste & Resources Action Programme selected as single point of resource efficiency support.

Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) today welcomed the Government decision that WRAP will lead the development of a single point of contact for advice and support services on resource efficiency.

WRAP believes that by joining forces the organisations delivering resource efficiency programmes will provide better and more efficient services to consumers, local authorities and businesses. Over the next year, WRAP will work with Defra policy teams to decide what needs to be done and how this should be delivered using the mix of skills and resources from all the organisations.

Read the full story here.

Sneak preview of the new home of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors.

We will be there for the official opening on Friday to bring you video and stills footage.

Work is underway on the demolition of a former JCB factory; guess what equipment they’re using?

The demolition work is set to be completed in June – paving the way for the important town centre site to be redeveloped and enhanced. The site in Pinfold Street was home to JCB Heavy Products until December last year when the business moved to its brand new £40 million production facility next to the A50.

The work is being undertaken by Birmingham-based Armoury Demolition and Recycling Ltd. Established in 1988, Armoury is one of the region’s leading contractors and provides a range of specialist services, including structural demolition and site reclamation for a wide range of clients. The company is currently sending letters to local residents outlining details about the start of the demolition project.

Sir Anthony Bamford said: “Today is the end of an era. My family has been manufacturing on this site for almost 140 years. I remember coming here with my father as a small boy and like many people in the town have fond memories of this factory. “Today is the end of an historic chapter but more importantly it is the start of a new an exciting era. JCB Heavy Products has, over the years, has become a nuisance to the town as we’ve expanded on this site.

“I’m excited about the future of this area because what is planned for this site will not only remove that nuisance, it will replace it with something that’ll be hugely beneficial to the area. Uttoxeter is very close to my heart because it’s a town my family has been associated with for so long. I’m determined that – in partnership with the local council – the development that replaces this factory will be of the highest quality.

“We were also determined that this site would not be left to fall into dereliction and become an added nuisance to the area which is why I’m delighted we’re here today to start the demolition work.”

Twitter is the fastest-growing online social network. So where are the demolition people?

Anyone that has been following this website for more than a few weeks will have heard me banging on about the social networking explosion that is Twitter. I won’t bore you with all the details of what it is again; suffice it to say that its growth is now outstripping other such networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

However, having just read a post by a very active Twitter user called Su Butcher (www.twitter.com/subutcher) about the number of architects that are using this new technology to communicate and find business, I did a quick search on the term demolition. And the response was disappointing if not surprising.

Aside from mentions of the word demolition, it appears that VERY few demolition people have yet discovered the joys of Twitter.

So, in an attempt to set the record straight, I am compiling a list of active Twitter users from the demolition fraternity, together with their Twitter names to allow demolitionnews readers to follow them:

Demolition News (http://www.twitter.com/demolitionnews)
Howard Button, NFDC Chief Executive (www.twitter.com/nfdcceo)
John Woodward, IDE vice-president (www.twitter.com/johnwoodward)
Richard Dolman, AR Demolition (www.twitter.com/demoman878)
Sean Heron, managing director of Dig A Crusher (www.twitter.com/digacrusher)

If there are any more of you out there, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

BASF Plant decomimissioning underway on Teeside.

The UK arm of international chemical giant BASF has begun the decommissioning of plant at the Seal Sands site in Teesside, Middlesbrough following its decision to cease these operations in May 2007.

BASF plc has appointed specialist engineering consultants and construction design management (CDM) co-ordinators RVA Group, to oversee and project manage the decommissioning and dismantling of its 128,000 tonne Adiponitrile (ADN) production facility and its high pressure gasification plant.

Work being carried out during the six month project comprises the complete removal of all hazardous material, demolition, dismantling and site clearance of the gasification plant and ADN plant, together with the removal of other facilities including utilities equipment, pipebridges, cables and process plant structures dating – in many instances – back to the 1970’s.

The Middlesbrough site was acquired by INEOS Nitriles – one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of Acrylonitrile – in August 2008, but BASF plc retained ownership of these production facilities, which had ceased production earlier that year.

BASF plc project manager Ken Norrie, who saw both the gasification and ADN plants being built, said: “This is our largest demolition assignment to date on the Seal Sands site. We were therefore looking for a company with proven excellence in environmental health and safety, to project manage this demanding job.

“RVA exhibited impressive knowledge and experience and were able to fully manage the difficult contractor selection process, which led to the appointment of Cheshire-based J Bryan Victoria Ltd.
“Work began on site in January and I have to say both companies are doing an excellent job.”
Richard Vann, managing director of RVA Group said: “This is a complex and potentially hazardous undertaking with a tight schedule that demands strong and continual communication between our own team, J Bryan Victoria, BASF and INEOS. It’s the kind of work we thrive on and one which has built us a reputation for excellence throughout the industry.”

A time-lapse video of a high reach excavator has topped the YouTube Machinery chart

I really should learn to keep my big mouth shut. No sooner do I promise never again to show a time-lapse video of a demolition project than along comes a video that has shot to the tops of the YouTube machinery video charts.