Tallest concrete structure ever demolished is coming down on September 7th in Kent

Contractor Brown & Mason is set to go into the history books next Wednesday when it implodes the chimney at Grain Power Station in Kent. Standing at 244 meters tall, it's two-and-a-half times taller than Big Ben and taller than 55 stacked double-decker buses. It's basically really really tall.

The site is owned by energy company Uniper who intends to turn the old power station into a new, 1,275MW gas-fired modern power station. So far 5 demolition contracts have been carried out to clear the site, with the chimney implosion being the 6th. In total, 84,000 tons of material has been removed and recycled.

Source: Kent News

Watch DDS Demolition demolish a multi-storey car park

DDS Demolition was awarded the contract to not only demolish the multi-storey car park in King Street, Maidstone, Kent, but to replace it with a new car park, too.

The multi-storey structure was constructed in the 1970's using a "lift-slab" method, meaning it has since been proven to fail, ultimately causing a safety risk. The video above shows in detail how DDS demolished the structure and the great new car park they installed in its place. The whole job took 6 months and resulted in 98% of the materials being recycled. It's well worth a watch.

CIOB Kent CPD event is well received

As regular visitors to this site will know, John is always willing to talk all things demolition, be it to schools, clients, or other organisations and it is really nice when a talk generates a nice letter of thanks and some good feedback.

John's recent talk to CIOB Kent branch on the 28th April was well received as can be seen from the letter below. A subsequent talk at Wolverhampton College at their Wellington Road Campus as part of the "City of Wolverhampton Progression Week" also went down very well.

If you would like to include a talk on demolition and the role of the IDE in ensuring competency please do not hesitate to contact john.woodward@demolishdismantle.co.uk and he will check his diary and see what he can do.

Click on the letter below to view it full size:

IDE President John Woodward opens new IDE Office

The IDE recently moved from their old offices at Poplicans Road to the new offices at The Joiners Shop, Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TZ. Now that Valerie and her team have settled into the new offices it was time to officially open them.

On Friday 17 August IDE President John Woodward called at the offices to watch as Valerie was officially given the key to the offices by Maureen Tong-Ralphs the Assistant Manager at the Basepoint operated offices.

The IDE see this move as vital in the progression of the institute as it gives more space for Valerie and her team to deal with the additional membership applications, the events organisation, and the general administration of a busy and growing institute.

Basepoint offer a complete service for organisations like the IDE with fully serviced offices in many locations throughout the UK. Details about the Joiners Shop offices can be found at http://www.the-joiners-shop.co.uk

Demolition worker fined for causing severe leg injury

Devon Stoner, a 44 year old demolition worker employed by Sloane Demolition Ltd., has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

In January last year Mr Stoner entered a 360 excavator on the site of a two-storey building that was being demolished in Kent. Four other men were present sorting and reclaiming bricks. Mr Stoner started the excavator, but could not control it.

The uncontrolled movements of the machine managed to knock over a wall. A co-worker could not move away from the wall quick enough and suffered severe injuries to his leg. The injury was so bad, the man now walks around with a steel plate in his shin and ankle. At the time, his shin was completely shattered and his ankle broken.

The blame for the incident lies with Mr Stoner who was both untrained and unauthorized to use the machine by his employer. After pleading guilty to breaching section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, a court ruled he pay a £500 fine and undertake 120 hours of community service.

That's little compensation for his co-worker who has to live with the consequences of Mr Stoner's actions in what was a completely avoidable incident.

Source: HSE