Swing it harder!

Demolition News found an amusing video which clearly shows you need the right tools for the job.

In this case, the wrecking ball is far too small to even have an impact on the building. There may be some light window damage, but this building isn't coming down any time soon without a rethink.

New images of 1515 Tower West Palm Beach building implosion

We wrote about the third largest building implosion carried out by AED in February. The building in question was the 1515 Tower in West Palm Beach, Florida.

We've been sent some new images of the implosion by AED and the BiggerBlast website. They are included below. Click each image to see a larger version.

Judges announced for Demolition Awards 2010

Once again, the judges for the Demolition Awards have been announced. And once again, our own John Woodward joins the panel.

Here's the full list of confirmed judges:

Howard Button
Chief executive, National Federation of Demolition Contractors

John Woodward
Vice president, Institute of Demolition Engineers

Walter Werner
President, Deutscher Abbruchverband

Henrik Bonnesen
COWI

William Moore
Vice president, Brandenburg Industrial Services

The awards are being held on November 5th in the Hotel Okura, Amsterdam. For more information visit the Demolition Awards website

Derelict garages in Wolverhampton may finally be demolished (UPDATED)

UPDATE: We have been informed that Armac Group will be carrying out the demolition once the garages are free of tenants at the end of March.

A group of derelict garages near Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton might finally come up for demolition after website WV11 and local paper the Express & Star got involved.

As can be the case with derelict sites, they end up attracting the wrong type of behaviour. After being broken into, incidents of fly tipping, graffiti, and anti-social behaviour started occurring in the area.

Kate Hughes, communications manager for Wolverhampton Homes, said back in February that:

The Garages are set to be demolished soon and we are currently negotiating with the 2 remaining tenants, but until alternative locations are found we can’t demolish them.

The one blocker to demolition was those tenants and finding them alternative locations. Now notices have been served for them to stop using the garages by 25th March meaning a demolition order can be issued.

Source: WV11.co.uk

Happy Birthday Jill

Happy Birthday Jill.

Today is my wife's birthday and to me she doesn't look any older than when we met over 10 years ago. I could not do the work that I do without the love and support of Jill so I thank her for that support, return the love in buckets and wish her "Many Happy Returns".

New Training Courses added

This week we have added four new training courses to our line-up. The course titles are as follows:

- Digital Tachograph
- Hand/Arm Vibration Awareness
- Portable Appliance Testing
- Safe Use of Ladders & Steps

Please keep checking our forthcoming courses page and training calendar for details of when these new courses will be offered.

Inaugural Dublin event hailed as great success

IDE President Terry Quarmby and Vice President John Woodward, attended the first IDE meeting in Dublin on Thursday 11th February to bring the message of IDE membership to 32 delegates from all over Ireland.

The excellent day, sponsored by Sandvik and PP O’Connor, included interesting presentations from Terry, John, Sandvik, Volvo and Peninsular, for whom Margaret Pears gave her usual entertaining talk about the redundancy legislation minefield. The presentations provoked lively discussion and questions from the floor throughout the day.

It was nice to see long time IDE members Susi Buchner, Eamonn McCormack and Austin O’Hare in the audience and mixing with the delegates to encourage them to apply for membership and equally nice to receive requests for a repeat visit in Autumn 2010 or Spring 2011.

John Woodward

Two British couples missing in Chile following earthquake

The recent earthquake in Chile is posing a major problem for the local government as the extent of the damage becomes clear. Demolition companies able to work in the area are going to be very busy, and have their work cut out for them as the above pictures shows.

The death toll in the region has gone past 700 and two British couples are thought to be missing. The first, Kirsty Duff and Dave Sandercock, were keen surfers staying in the town of Pichilemu. The second, Andre Lanyon and Laura Hapgood, were also in the same town. Our thoughts are with their families and friends and we hope it's just a lack of communication that is stopping them contacting home.

It seems as though e-mail and the Internet are the most reliable forms of communication at the moment in Chile. Google has stepped up to help by launching People Finder. This simple website allows people to post details of missing loved ones and for those in Chile to post details of people being found there.

There's also a number of relief efforts underway, and if you feel like contributing to help there are already several ways to do so.

Source: Daily Mail