Stadium blowdown happening March 25th in Orlando

This coming Sunday there's set to be a large implosion taking place in Orlando, Florida. The building is the Amway Arena, also known as the Orlando Arena and TD Waterhouse Centre.

It has been closed since September, 2010, and demolition started in December last year. However, the outer structure is being taken down with explosives after everything that could be recycled from the interior has been removed.

The O-Rena is no small structure, and regularly seated 15-18,000 people for sporting events including basketball, football, ice hockey, and concerts. Now it will be removed to make way for a new "urban development."

The level of dust the implosion will create is high, but things are helped by the fact the arena is surrounded by large car parks. Even so, nearby residence are being asked to keep all windows closed for a couple of hours from 7am this Sunday. Unusually, the blowdown will take down the structure, but leaves the four corner pillars standing. The reason for this is unclear.

For most of us the blowdown will mean one thing: lots of implosion footage to watch early next week. If it gets uploaded to the Internet, we'll be sure to feature it on the site.

Source: Bright House Sports Network

HSE introduces cost recovery scheme next month

The Health and Safety Executive spends a lot of money every year investigating and in some cases prosecuting those companies and/or individuals who break health and safety regulations. However, until now it has not been the case that those who break health and safety regulations are required to help cover the costs of "putting matters right." From next month that changes.

Gordon MacDonald, HSE's programme director, explains:

"The Government has agreed that it is right that those who break the law should pay their fair share of the costs to put things right - and not the public purse.

The Government intends to proceed with the FFI (Feee for Intervention) scheme as recommended to ministers by HSE's Board in December in response to the formal consultation that took place last Summer.

Discussions are still taking place on the technical details of the scheme, which we expect to conclude soon. Therefore, FFI will not be introduced in April but at the next available opportunity, which is likely to be October 2012."

The introduction of FFI will mean higher payouts for companies, but only if they break regulations. If your workforce and practices follow the guidelines, it should never impact your business.

source: HSE

JCB invest £3.5 million in jobs for young people

In these harsh economic times anything that UK companies can do to help out the jobs market will go a long way towards getting the country and its finances back on track. JCB is one of those companies.

The Rocester company has pledged £3.5 million and a recruitment drive that will see over 100 new employees join its ranks. These new starters will be young talent beginning in September and taking on roles including in a new Higher Apprentice Scheme.

The other good news is JCB has retained 100% of its graduates over the past 5 years. Now they are taking on double the number of young talent hopefuls in 2012, we hope that success rate continues, and the jobs turn into careers working for a British company.

To kickstart the larger apprenticeship scheme in style, JCB took on 16-year-old triplets yesterday. All will be working at JCB Heavy Products in Uttoxeter.

Source: The Manufacturer

Are we starting to see an upturn of work in Demolition?

After what seems like a very long time in the doldrums, is the demolition industry starting to pick up and find order books filling up?

The reason that we ask this question is that we have today notified over 100 man days of training to NDTG for demolition & asbestos awareness for March and April which means, if we read the signs correctly, that companies need to get CCDO cards for contracts starting in the near future, which can only be a good sign.

If you are looking good for future projects, but need to get your guys up to date with training or with CCDO cards, why not contact jill@demolishdismantle.co.uk to book your NDTG approved course. It can be carried out at a venue of your choice on a day and time to suit you. No time is a bad time for us to do the training. We've even carried out training starting at 04.00am for a customer in the past!

Don't wait until you need the CCDO cards, get the training done now as your client may be assessing your competency to do his work as Appendix 4 of CDM2007. That clearly states, as does BS6187:2011 Demolition Code of Practice, that trained workers are required.

Armac dismantle Catthorpe Viaduct (video)

The video you see above was captured by Armac Group. It shows the dismantling of the monumental structure known as the Catthorpe Viaduct. It was the main bridge over the M6/M1/A14 Interchange and had been watched cloesly for 15 years after failed hinge joints were discovered.

The biggest challenge for Armac was carrying out the job with the replacement viaduct just 6 meters away. The project was made even harder when Armac's proposed 48 hour road closure got shortened to just 36 hours. Also hanging over their heads was an £18,000 per hour penalty if they ran over their allotted time.

Here's some detail about from Armac about how they managed to pull off the dismantling in record time:

"With some 4000t of concrete, 500t of reinforcement steel and a 2 mile run to the tip area, a major logistical operation was planned by the Armac Team. With all plant and equipment being delivered and removed from the Project on a 'just in time' basis the Project had assembled what is believed to be the largest ever assembly of demolition fire power for a bridge demolition consisting of:

• 14no. straight boom excavators (ranging from 70t - 50t)
• 2no. 7t hydraulic breakers
• 4no. 6t hydraulic breakers
• 6no. 4t hydraulic breakers
• 4no. 6t hydraulic pulverisors
• 4no. 4t hydraulic processors
• 2no. 7t hydraulic shears
• 12no. 40t dumptrucks

Behind the lead demolition machines was a full back up team of Ground Crews, Plant Technicians, Hydraulic Hose Fitters, Tyre Fitters and hiab and standby excavators and attachments.

The demolition was undertaken over 4no. 10hr. shifts with a 1hr. overlap between to allow for a smooth changeover and continuous working."

In the end, Armac completed the job in just 32 hours and without any safety issues.

Source: Armac

Forth Demolition launch new website

Forth Demolition is celebrating 10 years of service, and with that has launched a brand new website to make it even easier to view the range of services they offer.

Forth was established in 2002 and offers both demolition and consultancy services. Their full list of services includes demolition, site clearance, asbestos removal, soft strip, and plant hire. Their new site was designed with the aid of Filthy Gorgeous Design, who specialize in web design, branding, motion graphics, and picture editing.

Head on over to the Forth Demolition website and check out their new look.

Richborough cooling towers and chimney demolition

Normally John would not be near Ramsgate on a Saturday night and up with the lark on a Sunday morning, but this weekend was an exception as he was at the explosive demolition of Richborough cooling towers and chimney.

The demolition work was carried out by DDS Demolition Limited with the explosive demolition by Keltbray’s Mick Williams and Holly Bennett. C&D involvement was as demolition consultant to UK Power Networks, whose switchgear was adjacent to the towers.

It was an unusual role for C&D on a blowdown as John was virtually a spectator auditing the procedures of DDS and Keltbray to provide re-assurance to UK Power Networks that all would go to plan, and it did.

Congratulations to all at DDS and Keltbray on a textbook implosion.



More information and further video footage available at BBC News

Terry's chocolate factory demolition begins in York

Although they haven't really been seen on TV for a while, no one can forget the Terry's chocolate orange adverts. Now one of the factories that used to produce the delicious chocolate is being demolished in York. It has stood empty since 2005 when 300 jobs were lost as the factory shut its doors.

The demolition is being carried out by Demolition Services Ltd. who have been contracted by developers Grantside. All materials from the building will be recycled where possible including the steel frame, the bricks as aggregate, and the concrete base as road construction materials. The whole project is expected to take 4 weeks.

Anyone concerned about the fate of the distinctive main red brick building can relax. It is a listed building and Grantside aim to make it a centrepiece of any new development.

With the building gone, Grantside will redevelop the area and bring with it 2,700 new jobs to the area. They will come from home construction, the introduction of two hotels, and a public services area including restaurants, bars, and shops.

Source: The York Press

Are you or your workers stressed out today?

Occupational stress is one of the major causes for lost time in all industries and now even the demolition industry needs to stop and take notice!

On a recent C&D Stress awareness course one of the demolition supervisors said :-

“Stress, don't tell me about stress! I will put it in a sandwich and eat it for breakfast”.

He may have felt that he was not affected by stress but after the course finished he stayed behind to tell us that he had learned that he was stressed at work, as were his colleagues, and he now knew how to recognise that stress and mitigate it. So no more stress breakfasts!

With the new stress management regulations coming into force in April 2012 all companies, no matter how small they are, or what they do, will be required to carry out stress risk assessments and have an action plan to deal with any findings.

Not only can this stress in workers lead to a loss of effectiveness, it can be extremely costly to employers in terms of days lost due to stress related conditions. Moreover, it can be extremely costly to employers in safety critical industries, with very serious consequences.

With this in mind, C&D recently launched a new one day course entitled 'Management of Stress in the Workplace' which is specifically targetted to the Construction and Demolition industries. The response so far to the course has been overwhelming, and although it has initially been aimed at managers and supervisors it can be tailored to suit the needs of your company.

Before the new regulations come into force why not attend the course and be ahead of the game.

The maximum number of attendees is 12 and the cost per person is £100.00 plus VAT.

For further information or to book a place, please email jill@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Asbestos survey company fails to spot asbestos

When any kind of renovation or demolition work is being planned it is imperative an asbestos survey is carried out. If it isn't, chances are the presence of asbestos will put workers at risk and see prosecutions handed out by the HSE. But there's another problem we have to contend with: surveys being carried out that fail to identify asbestos.

PHH Environmental (UK) Ltd. has been prosecuted after an asbestos survey it carried out on the Old Castle Cinema in Merthyr Tydfil found no asbestos. Soon after, demolition of the cinema began and workers disturbed asbestos.

Such an oversight has put the health of those workers at risk, and PHH has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company now has to pay a fine of £5,000 and costs of £3,000. Although that's little compensation for anyone working on the site who was exposed to the material.

Source: The Construction Index