IDE Midlands Regional Meeting on August 15th

The IDE has organised a Midlands Regional Meeting for Tuesday, 15th August between 5pm and 7pm.

The meeting is sponsored by DSM Demolition Ltd. and takes place in The Oak Hotel, Stratford Road, Hockley heath B94 5NW. You'll find it on the A34.

At 5pm there will be refreshments and some time to network. Then there will be talks by safety consultant Steve Tamplin on Scaffolding Awareness, and Ricky Hay FRICS, the NFDC Scotland & Ireland Regional Chairman on the demolition of the St. James Quarter in Edinburgh. A video will also be available to watch showing a delayed timelapse of the Tottenham Hotspurs Ground demolition.

To register your attendance, please email info@ide.org.uk

IDE Midlands Regional Meeting, August 15th

On Tuesday, August 15th, an IDE Midlands Regional Meeting will be held in The Oak Hotel on Stratford Road in Hockley Heath.

The event is sponsored by DSM Demolition and kicks off at 5pm with registration and networking accompanied by refreshments and a buffet.

After that there will be a couple of speakers including safety consultant Steve Tamplin talking about scaffolding awareness. Then there's Ricky Hay FRICS, regional chairman of the NFDC for Scotland & ireland. He'll be talking about the demolition of the St. James Quarter in Edinburgh.

Attendees will also be able to watch a time delay video on the demolition of the Tottenham Hotspurs Ground at White Hart Lane in London. It's a work in progress by sponsors DSM Demolition.

If you'd like to attend, then please email info@ide.org.uk to register.

C&D customer DSM get to work on Coventry Post Office

The Coventry Telegraph has obtained video footage of DSM Demolition using high reach excavators to tear down the old Royal Mail sorting office in Coventry. You can watch the video at the link below.

In place of the £2.6 million sorting office will be erected a £73 million shopping and student accommodation complex called Bishopgate. However, the new complex is only at the public feedback stage, with formal plans yet to be submitted by the developers.

Source: Coventry Telegraph

Solihull IDE Regional Meeting was a well-attended success

The IDE has shared details of how well the regional meeting held earlier this month in Solihull went.

It was hosted by DSM Demolition Ltd., had more than 30 attendees, and enjoyed presentations from Stuart Butler of Avonmouth in Bristol and Martin Smith who works as a Safety Officer for Robinson and Birdsell a Demolition and Recycling. For full details, visit the IDE link below.

Source: IDE

Watch Greyfriars be demolished with the aid of 2,200 explosive charges

If you visited the site yesterday, then you'd have been able to watch the Greyfriars bus station implosion live through a camera feed. But don't worry if you couldn't make it as the event was recorded for posterity. Included here are a couple of videos showing the station being raised to the ground.

The building has been referred to as the "mouth of hell" and has stood in Northampton for the last 40 years. DSM Demolition ended up using 2,200 explosive charges to demolish the building. It looks to have gone smoothly.

Watch the Greyfriars bus station live right here

As we reported earlier this week, C&D customer DSM Demolition is spending this weekend demolishing Greyfriars bus station, and in the process creating a very large dust of cloud. Unfortunately, there isn't a good vantage point in the safe zone to watch the blowdown from, but technology is coming to the rescue.

Above is a webcam that will show the action live when it happens this coming Sunday, March 15th. So head back here on Sunday, maybe after you've watched the ridiculously early Australian grand prix, and watch Greyfriars come down.

If for any reason the video above doesn't work, you also watch it directly on UStream.

C&D customer DSM get ready for another major inner city blowdown

Sunday, March 15th will see C&D Customer DSM Demolition create a large dust cloud over Northampton. The cloud is unavoidable due to it being caused by the blowdown of Greyfriars bus station.

One side effect of the dust is that there will apparently be no good vantage point for watching the blowdown, in part due to the large safety zone being setup around the station. This will include the closure of the main shopping street, Abington Street. Albert Street, Wellington Street, Greyfriars, Lady’s Lane, part of Sheep Street, Newland and Victoria Street will also all be closed.

You can see the map detailing the safety/exclusion zone below (click the image to see it full size):


The good news is, there will be a live camera available to view on the day, which you can watch here.

Source: Northampton Chronicle

Old Northampton bus station to be demolished March 15th

C&D customer DSM has set the date for the Northampton Greyfriars demolition as March 15th.

Northampton will see an exclusion zone setup around the Greyfriars building on the Sunday, with local residents evacuated beforehand as a precautionary measure. Then a controlled explosion will be used to bring the structure down.

Although inconvenient for residents, the removal of the building opens the way for new development. The site is expected to be made ready for such redevelopment later this year, with Northampton Borough Council investigating exactly what is the best use of the land going forward.

Source: Northampton Chronicle and image from Whohe!

Crumbling Leicester council offices blowdown happening February 22nd

Anyone accustomed to the Leicester skyline will recognise the old council office. Well, come February 22nd they will be no more as DSM Demolition will be demolishing them by way of a blowdown.

In fact, this is a double blowdown event as the New Walk Centre is also being raised to the ground using a controlled explosion. Cameras will be setup to record the event alongside the inevitable smartphone footage that will make its way on to YouTube.

We'll be sure to post any footage that appears following the blowdowns.

Source: BBC News

The ATV Centre on Broad Street in Birmingham is no more

If you remember watching Crossroads, Bullseye, Blockbusters, Tiswas on a Saturday morning, or enjoyed Central News, then you have Central Studios in the ATV Centre on Broad Street in Birmingham to thank for those productions. However, after two decades of closure, the building is no more. C&D customer DSM has now removed an iconic part of Midlands TV history.

At the time of its opening in 1970, the ATV Centre was the most advanced TV production studio in Europe. Oh how things have changed.

Source: Express & Star

C&D customer DSM Demolition bring the house down in Hockley

C&D customer DSM Demolition have successfully carried out the explosive demolition of a tower block in Hockley, Birmingham, which you can watch above.

The Hockley block is the first of eight blocks within the Birmingham area marked for demolition as part of a £26 million Birmingham City Council programme. The reason for the removal of the blocks is one of efficiency. Council Housing is removing properties that would otherwise require a large amount of investment in the near future. It also frees up the land for redevelopment and the creation of new housing stock.

For more information and images of the Hockley block demolition please visit the Birmingham Updates website.

C&D customer DSM Demolition start work in Plymouth

The Mayflower West car park in Plymouth was closed in late 2013 after safety concerns were raised, but it has taken until now for demolition work to commence. Thankfully it's in the very capable hands of DSM Demolition.

The reason for the delay? The amount of asbestos found on site, and the importance of removing it safely. Asbestos was expected according to the council, just nowhere near as much as they discovered. You can see DSM in action on the site by following the source link below.

Once removed, it is thought a new coach hub may be built on site. More car parking needs to be found, though, as local businesses are concerned about their ability to trade if customers can't park close by.

Source: The Plymouth Herald

DSM Demolition presentation date change

There has been a date change for a talk being given by Robert Powell of DSM Demolition. The presentation focuses on BS6187:2011 including high reach demolition and demolition by designed collapse mechanisms, including explosives. It will now take place on the 12th June.

The venue is in Worcester at the following address

Sixways Stadium,
Warriors Way,
Worcester, WR3 8ZE

Attendance is free and places can be booked by contacting Jo Webb at jwebb@ciob.org.uk or on 0845 070 6137.

DSM Demolition tears down the back of Tesco in Walsall

Last month we posted about C&D customer DSM Demolition tearing down the back of the old Tesco building in Walsall town centre. Well, less than a month later and they've finished the job.

The Old Square redevelopment will see £21 million spent and a new Primark and Co-op being erected. The project won't be completed until 2015, but the demolition phase seems to be coming to an end withough any problems.

Source: Express & Star

C&D customer DSM Demolition starts work on £8 million project in Walsall

Walsall town center in the West Midlands is currently undergoing a major redevelopment, which includes building a giant, new Primark store. Of course, for that to happen the way has to be cleared for the new build.

As a first phase in the redevelopment, C&D customer DSM Demolition has been tasked with demolishing what was a large Tesco store on the Old Square Shopping Centre site, as well as a number of surrounding units.

Work has already started to demolish the buildings, with a timetable lasting four months for DSM to finish the job. The redevelopment is meant to be completely finished at some point in 2015.

Source: Walsall Advertiser

Bell Street car park in Stourbridge imploded

Anyone who has visited Stourbridge over the past few years couldn't help but notice the large, concrete multi-storey car park on the ring road known as Bell's Street car park. In fact, in 2008-2009 I parked there every day. It was definitely somewhere you didn't want to walk around late at night, and navigating the levels, even in a small car, was an exercise in inch-perfect cornering.

Over the weekend that car park disappeared from the skyline. DSM Demolition used 30kg of explosives to bring down the concrete structure, which will now make way for a new supermarket and hopefully help to regenerate the whole area. With that being the case I'm sure the 120 people who were evacuated from their homes during the blast didn't mind too much.

Source: Stourbridge News

DSM Demolition win £961,000 Dublin flats demolition contract

DSM Demolition has just secured the contract for a large demolition job in Dublin that's reported to be worth in the region of 1.1 million Euros, or £961,000.

The project involves the demolition of a nine storey block of flats consisting of 96 flats in total. The building is constructed from precast concrete walls and insitu concrete floors. The work will involve soft stripping, removal of any hazardous waste from the site, and demolishing all that concrete.

Earlier this year DSM demolished two towers at Aston University with the aid of PDC Explosives Engineers. You can view video footage of the blowdown here.

Source: Build.co.uk

October 18th Presentation: Demolition at Aston University

On October 18th there is a presentation being given at the Wolverhampton Science Park that may interest many of our readers. It is entitled "Demolition at Aston University" and has been planned by the West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellent (WMCCE).

The presentation will cover the recent demolition of two 1970's tower blocks at Aston University. Robin Powell of DSM Demolition will be giving the talk, which includes coverage of the job planning and use of explosives to raise the towers to the ground.

If you would like to attend (free of charge) then you need to be at the following location by 6pm on the 18th:

Wolverhampton Science Park
Glaisher Drive
Wolverhampton
WV10 9RU

To find out more please contact Jo Webb at jwebb@ciob.org.uk or phone her on 0845 070 6137.

Source: WMCCE

Aston University two towers blowdown

Earlier today DSM Demolition and PDC Explosives Engineers (John Faulkner and Robyn Rushforth) carried out a blowdown of two towers on the Aston University campus in Birmingham.

Anyone who knows Aston University will be aware that it is possitioned right next to a major dual carriageway making precision crucial otherwise tomorrow's rush hour would have been a nightmare. C&D were initial consultants on the project and aided the decision to go with a blowdown in such a tight site.

As you can see in the videos, it looks as though the blowdown went without a hitch.