EPA halts demolition…

Demolition of a former pottery factory in Chester is on hold because of health and environmental concerns.

Full story here.

Quick Hitch manslaughter…

Just a few short weeks ahead of semi-automatic quick hitches being outlawed once and for all comes news of the first manslaughter conviction following a fatality attributed directly to a quick hitch.

The full story can be viewed here.

Tombstone at Ground Zero…

More than six years after 9/11, the toxic shell of the Deutsche Bank building remains standing. A tale of dysfunction that has cost taxpayers over $150 million – and taken the lives of two New York City firefighters.

This article from Fortune Magazine makes for fascinating reading, almost regardless of whether you’re from a demolition background or not.

Conjet factory expansion…

Conjet AB, a world-leading specialist in the design and manufacture of remotely operated high-pressure water jetting hydrodemolition machines, is expanding its headquarters manufacturing facilities at Haninge, 20km south of Sweden’s capital Stockholm. Conjet has committed investment capital of €1M for the building of these new facilities, which is in direct response to the continuing and growing worldwide demand for its products and services, ensuring that Conjet AB stays at the forefront of the world’s hydrodemolition equipment industry.
Conjet is extending its equipment assembly building to cope with the increasing business. The new extension will more than double the assembly area and houses a much larger parts stock holding section. “The new 1000m2 extension, which we started in March and expect to be complete by October 2008, is needed to cater for the increasing demand worldwide for our hydrodemolition equipment. The extra space will enable us to boost our capacity and considerably reduce our assembly times with the same number of employees and fulfil the needs of the future,” says Conjet AB President Carl Stromdahl.
Conjet currently offers the world’s most extensive range of remotely operated computer controlled hydrodemolition equipment, including a range of Robots and Jetframes together with tailor made hydrodemolition units, which can connect to Conjet Powerpacks or other high pressure water pumps. The company is currently working on several developments to further extend the product range.

WRAP identifies barriers to recycling

New research from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has found four main barriers which stop people recycling more. The study outlines a series of simple steps to help local authorities overcome these.

The full story can be found here.

HSE calls for radical approach to site safety…

In an exclusive video interview with trade magazine Construction News, Health and Safety Executive construction chief inspector Stephen Williams has said that the political climate is right for ‘more radical solutions’ to the construction industry’s safety problem.

View the video here.

Industry indifferent to plant theft…

The National Plant & Equipment Register (TER) says that all parties involved with construction, demolition, quarrying and agricultural equipment are ‘institutionally indifferent’ to the theft of equipment, which runs at more than £1M/week (source: Home Office) in the UK alone.

Read the full story here.

London 2012 job scam uncovered…

Hundreds of eastern European workers have been duped in a scam promising non-existent jobs at the London 2012 Olympic site, BBC London has found.
An investigation revealed that 550 Slovakians handed over cash deposits of £600 to convicted fraudster Nigel Lewis, who is based in east London.
Read the full story here.

Armoury demolition underway…

Passersby watched this week as three buildings on the site of the old Nevada National Guard Armory on south Carson Street were turned into rubble.

Further details here.

NDA academy spaces still available…

Limited space still remains for the National Demolition Association’s new Demolition Academy, a three-day educational program offering the latest safety information and management training for the demolition industry, Oct. 15-17 at the Renaissance Concourse Hotel in Atlanta.

Further information here.