C&D customer DSM carry out classic blowdown in Leicester

Congratulations to all in the DSM team for a successful blowdown of a multi-storey office complex on a tight site in Leicester. You can see footage of the New Walk Centre job below:

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

Coleman & Company has Furukawa HB15G breaker stolen

The NFDC has sent out a notice to members regarding the theft of a Furukawa HB15G breaker from Coleman & Company.

The breaker was taken from a site in Leicester at 3am on Saturday, 15th December. The serial number of the breaker is 3114.

If anyone has been approached about purchasing the breaker, please can you contact Malcolm Hurst – Plant & Transport Manager on 0121-325-2424.

Video of AR Demolition Chimney Blast

Last week we got to share a few shots of the chimney blast at the former British Union Shoe Machinery (BUSM) works in Ross Walk, Belgrave. The work was carried out by AR Demolition to make way for new housing.

Now we've been lucky enough to receive video footage of the demolition from Paul Boynton and his son David who runs DB Photographic Solutions. You can watch the chimney fall above.

“There She Blows” - AR Demolition Ltd Levels Chimney at Former Shoe Machine Factory

The Leicester city skyline was re-modelled in an instance on Saturday 21st January when an iconic 115ft tall chimney at the former British Union Shoe Machinery (BUSM) works in Ross Walk, Belgrave, was blown up in spectacular fashion.

Hundreds of people watched as the chimney was demolished by AR Demolition to make way for new housing. Westleigh Developments plans to build 1,200 homes on the 30-acre site, six play areas, shops, cafes, commercial units and a nursery, at a cost of around £15 million.

Residents from 26 homes, whose houses were inside the safety exclusion zone, were invited as VIPs to the controlled demolition.

Also there, were former employees of BUSM one of whom 62 year old Tom Keville, pushed the buttons to trigger the explosions to bring the chimney down at exactly 11am. Tom, who worked at the factory starting as an apprentice 47 years ago, won the chance to have his finger on the fire button after bidding £1,700 in a charity auction.

It was a bitter sweet moment for Tom, but sad for others such as former management accountant trainee, Peter Barratt who had come to bid a fond farewell to the landmark, part of the huge factory which in it’s hey day was the largest manufacturer of footwear machinery in the world, employing some 4,500 people.

Richard Dolman, managing director of AR Demolition Ltd, who oversaw the demolition of the chimney said: "It is an adrenaline rush. It was a perfect job."

AR Demolition commenced work on the four phase contract mid 2011 to clear the site of the main four storey factory and associated buildings and infrastructure. The chimney demolition is part of the third phase of the job.

Commenting on the controlled explosion Richard said, “Preparation as usual was key to the success of the blast. Charges were strategically placed on the morning of the demolition. The evacuation was completed 20 minutes ahead of schedule and the exclusion zone given the all clear.

C&D announce new Fire Marshall and Fire Safety Manager training dates for 2012

New dates have been added for the Fire Marshall and Fire Safety Manager courses. Both courses take place on the same day starting with Fire Marshall that is a half day course up to lunch and then the afternoon course added to the Fire Marshall course takes the candidate up to Fire Safety Manager level.

Dates and venues include:

Coventry. Ibis Hotel, CV3 4LF
03/01/2012 and 20/03/2012

Leicester, Mercure Hotel LE1 6ES
04/01/2012 and 21/03/2012

Wolverhampton, Park Hall Hotel, WV 4 5AJ
17/01/2012 and 03/04/2012

Birmingham, Ibis Hotel, B5 4S
18/01/2012 and 04/04/2012

Rates are:

Fire Marshall £100 plus VAT
Fire Safety Manager £200 plus VAT

For bookings contact Jill at jill@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Asbestos survey – not worth the paper it was written on

Over the last two years or more C&D Consultancy have been acting as Demolition Consultants to B&K Nottingham Ltd on a project at Humberstone Lane in Leicester for Bovis Homes Midlands where during the demolition works a large quantity of asbestos insulation board was discovered that had not been identified on the type 3 survey.

This failure to identify caused major delays and disruption to the project and financial hardship to B&K who are still waiting for Bovis Homes to settle their account, and a total rethink of the method of working, hence our involvement.

The HSE always said that they were unhappy with the survey that lead to a release of asbestos fibres and they have now completed their prosecution of the surveyor involved.

Details of the case can be found at The Construction Index

IDE Regional Meeting 11th May Reminder

This is a final reminder about the IDE Regional Meeting that is happening next Tuesday 11th May at the Desford Visitors Centre, Leicester.

For details of what is happening at the event please click the image above for a timetable. We hope to see many of you there.