All too often, the media portrays the demolition industry as a nasty, dirty business that wreaks havoc on the environment and local wildlife. So it is pleasing to report that at least one US newspaper has had the good sense to dig a little deeper to find some true environmental benefits to the demolition of an ageing dam.
More details can be found here: http://www.cabinet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/MERRIMACK01/537311918/-1/merrimack01
The Rugby World Cup in 2011 may seem a long way off. But as workers on the various London 2012 Olympic sites in London will testify, time waits for no man. And so the stands at Auckland’s Eden Park rugby stadium have come tumbling down to make way for a new $NZ320 million venue to host the 2011 tournament.
More details here: http://www.rugbyheaven.co.nz/rugbyheaven/4647378a22775.html
The National Recycling Awards – the only gala event recognising and rewarding excellence in the waste and recycling community – are calling on companies in the construction sector to enter the Valpak Waste Minimisation Project of the Year category.
Widely recognised as the recycling industry’s benchmark, the National Recycling Awards have been celebrating best practice in the public and private sector for over a decade now, with 2008 marking their tenth anniversary.
The Valpak Waste Minimisation Project of the Year award is open to any organisation, business, community group or local authority that can show how waste has been minimised through a specific strategy, project or process. In particular, the judges will be looking for details of the waste minimisation initiative; data on tonnages and materials saved and why the project was a success.
Chair of the awards judging panel, Paul Sanderson said: “The construction industry is a major source of waste in England, using the highest tonnage of solid material resources in any sector.* Following on from the Government’s Waste Strategy for England 2007 to halve building and excavation waste going to landfill by 2012, many construction companies have started to identify ways in which they can improve resource efficiency and reduce waste. We urge these companies to enter the awards and look forward to a hard-fought competition in this category.”
Full entry guidelines can be found on www.nationalrecyclingawards.com and the closing date for entries is Friday 22 August 2008. The entries will be judged in September by a panel of industry professionals chaired by Paul Sanderson and the winners will be presented with their awards at a celebrity-hosted black-tie gala event at the Telford International Centre on 12 November 2008.
Crowds gather to witness implosion. Read the story and watch the video here: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080720/NEWS01/307200011/1008/NEWS01
A Brisbane Magistrate has fined a developer more than $500,000 for the illegal demolition of four pre-war homes at Hamilton.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/06/2325959.htm?section=business
The European Demolition Association (EDA) has released a provisional programme for its autumn conference to be held in Istanbul on 6th-8th November 2008. The venue will be the 5 star Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel, located in the heart of Istanbul (Taksim) with views to the Bosphorus and the old city, and the event will follow the format that proved successful in Rome – a series of presentations and round table discussions interspersed with short presentations from sponsors of the event.
D&Ri will report more fully on the programme nearer to the event and the new EDA secretariat will very shortly be sending out booking documentation and a final programme for delegates to book their attendance.
The draft programme for the event indicates that the opening presentation will be on the results of the questionnaire on high reach equipment circulated at the Rome event in May, with other topics on the first day looking at safety, training and education at a European level. The second day will open with a roundtable discussion concerning the various bodies around Europe that can issue safety certification with a view to gaining an overview of the various different standards currently being applied in the EU.
As usual for the EDA, there will be a full social programme for partners attending the event, with an informal dinner on the 7th November at the Flower Market, and a gala dinner on the 8th. This will be held in the Binbirdirek Cistern, which features 1001 columns. The cistern was built by the order of Philoksenos, (a Senate member in the Constantinus I period of the 4th century) under the Lausus Palace and located between Sultanahmet and Beyazit, just across from the Adalet Sarayi (Justice Palace).
For those that have never experienced the architectural delights on offer in the city, on the afternoon of the 8th November a visit has been organised to the spectacular Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (when entering the Blue Mosque, removal of shoes prior to stepping onto the carpets is a requirement, so beware holes in socks! On no account should shoes be put back on upon exit while standing on the carpeted area outside the doors).
Courtesy of Lindsay Gale, Editor, D&Ri – 30 July 2008
Demolition News is the weblog of Mark Anthony, editor of the UK publications Demolition & Dismantling and Demolition Engineer, and European Editor of Professional Demolition International (PDI).
It is my intention to use this weblog not only to post news from and for the demolition industry but also to gather response and comment from demolition professionals both in the UK and beyond.
I hope you like it and look forward to reading your comments in due course.
Mark
