Armac Demolition sweep the board at the C&D Consultancy fishing day

Friday, 30th June saw anglers from the demolition industry descend on Moorlands Farm Fishery at Hartlebury near Kidderminster for the first of two charity fishing days organised by C&D Consultancy.

The day started with a "demolition breakfast" that would have fed a gang of soft strippers on it's own, before the draw for pegs with the anglers well spaced around the lake for 5 hours of catching fish.

The weather was kind to us and everyone managed to catch something. At the end of the match the nets of fish were weighed and the Armac boys finished in 1st and 2nd places!


Results were:-

1. Ash Alison of Armac Demolition 62lbs 14oz
2. John Kerr of Armac Demolition 42lbs 3oz
3. Carl Falconer of Spillard Safety Systems 41lbs 12oz
4. Brent Gill of Logical Demolition 22lbs 10oz
5. Mike Wilkinson of C&D Consultancy 18lbs 3oz
6. Stuart Carter of C&D Consultancy 7lbs 10oz
7. John Woodward of C&D Consultancy 6lbs 14oz
8. Martin Hurley of R Collard Demolition 4lbs 7oz
9. Craig Wilkinson of C&D Consultancy Did Not weigh In

Brent Gill summed up the day when he lifted his second net out of the lake to weigh in what he thought was around 10lbs of fish only to find that there was a hole in the net and all the fish had escaped!

The day finished with pie and chips in the on site cafe before Craig Wilkinson presented the trophies and prizes to the winners. A charity collection at the end raised the great sum of £200 that was presented to Bark Inn Kennels the 5th July.




If you would like to attend the next fishing day it is on Friday, 4th August at Furnace Mill, Bewdley. It's FREE but you must contact John to book your place.

Autostem Training happening next week

We've just put up details over on our Training website about Autostem Training happening next week on October 18th. Please visit the Training site for full details.

C&D customer Armac get to work in Coventry

Armac has started work on demolishing The Rocket Pub near Coventry railway station. The work is part of the ongoing Friargate regeneration project for the area, and the removal of the pub, which has been boarded up for four years, will likely be welcomed by locals. Eventually the area will become a new business district with 25 new buildings being constructed.

Once removed, the land will be used for storage while a tunnel is constructed beneath Warwick Road to allow better pedestrian access from the station to Central Six retail park.

A gallery of images showing the demolition in progress as well as some historical images from the pub's past can be viewed at the Coventry Telegraph website.

C&D Customer Armac goes "On the Beer"

Armac has begun demolition contractor duties working on the "eyesore" building that is the block in front of the Brewery in Cheltenham. Last week a grabber started taking down the block, with site clearance expected to be completed before the end of 2014.

The principal contractor on-site is Kier Construction, appointed by developer Martin Commercial Properties. The aim is to redevelop and regenerate Cheltenham's lower high street. In total £30 million is being put into the redevelopment.

Source: Gloucestershire Echo

Contract of the Year Shortlist announced

The judges have now decided on the shortlist for the 2012 World Demolition Award Contract of the Year. The list includes:

• Armac
• Coleman & Company
• Despe srl & De Goyere
• Erith Contractors
• Ferma Corp
• Keltbray
• Nikau Contractors
• Ward Demolition

One of the judges commented:

"This year's entries for this category are exceptional, both in terms of numbers and the standard of the expertise and professionalism they display. I have never had such a difficult task in deciding who should appear on the list. As to the final winner, I am going to have to work very hard indeed to reach a decision."

Source: d&ri

IDE Regional meeting Glasgow May 1st 2012

The IDE held the recent Scottish regional meeting in Glasgow on May 1st and the turnout was excellent. Over a dozen Scottish IDE members and guests met at the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel to discuss issues facing the demolition industry today both North and South of the border.

John Woodward chaired the meeting and also did a small presentation on HSE priorities for 2012 as well as showing the Armac Group time lapse film of their work on Catthorpe Viaduct, which you can watch here.

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

Armac's Harry Ward completes first solo mission

Armac’s own Harry Ward, who recently completed his A61 appointed persons certification has completed his firs solo mission.

The demolition of an aerial mast, approximately 33m high of tubular steel construction which was diagonally crass braced up to a working platform. The mast had previously been constructed in sections obvious from the bolted connections between sections.

To establish an accurate weight the mast was surveyed by our in-house engineers. The frame was detailed up in AutoCAD and modelled for mass. This allowed for a fair estimate for the overall weight of the tower sections in each lift.

The lift area was surveyed to determine crane position for the overall lift and lay-down radius. Using calculated weights (3.5t with contingency), lift radius and required lift height a Liebherr 1070-4.1 (75t) was selected lifting at three points with a four leg chain.

The mast was cut into three segments to enable the tower to be laid down adjacent the lift. The mast legs and cross bracing had to be cut free using an oxy-propane torch.

Thameside Hospital demolition time-lapse

C&D customer Armac Group have recently completed the demolition of Thameside Hospital in Manchester for BBCL, and even though the work was done quickly it was not quite as quick as this timelapse would have us believe.