Asarco stack demolition
El Paso Asarco stacks are demolished April 13, 2013.

By: Robert Moore

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Asarco stack demolition - Video

REDLANDS -- As the wind began to pick up mid-morning Wednesday, demolition was halted on a beige building that once was a community center for residents of low-income housing off Lugonia Avenue and Orange Street.

Dust-control laws prevented workers from continuing, said workers on the site.

The demolition, expected to be completed this week - is part of the construction process to develop the Valencia Grove housing project that will replace 70-year-old rental homes.

Several phases are expected before the work is done. A groundbreaking on the project's first phase was held in early August. The Housing Authority of San Bernardino County and Housing Partners I Inc. are spearheading the project.

Once greenery, leftover buildings and other materials are cleared from the site, a foundation will be installed, and soon homes will start filling the empty dirt lot.

The first phase - which has a budget of $18 million - is expected to be completed in late summer 2014, said Gustav Joslin, senior vice president/chief operating officer for the Housing Authority.

Costs to complete the entire housing community - which will be an energy-efficient mixed-income community made up of starter homes and townhome apartments - could reach $50 million.

A multi-use recreation center with a pool and three playground areas for children will also come with the new housing complex for low-income residents. A separate housing unit will be open to first-time home buyers, Joslin said.

"The older units were extremely old and lacked the amenities that are common with modern rental housing," he said. "For example, they might have one bathroom for three or four bedrooms, so we're going to put back units that have two bathrooms where we will have large room sizes, more storage. ... We're going to put in modern amenities like carpet, for example.

How the playgrounds will look at the site that will be the future home to the Valencia Grove Housing Community. ((John Valenzuela/Staff Photographer) )

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Redlands housing project demolition under way

A firm associated with former Pittsburgh Housing Authority employee Gabriel S. Fontana has been hired to do site demolition and reconstruction work related to that agency, including some that was competitively bid, some that was not, and some that was awarded through a process that has raised questions in the razing industry.

Fontana, who left the authority in 2003 following a Post-Gazette story about his 1998 guilty plea for conspiracy to sell cocaine and money laundering, is associated with a company that last year won a three-year, $1.6 million contract to train and supervise residents who will tend the authority's grounds. That company, Pittsburgh Property Maintenance, was incorporated nine days before it bid on the contract.

Fontana's demolition company, Three Rivers Dismantlement, was incorporated Oct. 31, 2011. It has done a handful of private demolition jobs since then, according to Bureau of Building Inspection online records.

Three Rivers Dismantlement has become involved in at least three Housing Authority jobs.

The first, a $117,750 contract to reconstruct a collapsed hillside in Homewood North, was competitively bid in a process that started in August, and Three Rivers Dismantlement was by far the lowest bidder. The second, for which the firm was paid $19,000 to replace a failed 8-inch water shut-off valve at Northview Heights, was awarded over the winter on an emergency basis with just Three Rivers Dismantlement's bid.

"We wanted to make sure the residents were safe," said Kim Detrick, the authority's procurement director since October, explaining the one-bid process.

It appears that Three Rivers Dismantlement's biggest job came to it through a process that has some competitors puzzled.

Three Rivers Dismantlement is handling much of the razing of Addison Terrace, a 734-unit community that will be replaced with around 400 mixed-income apartments. The authority has hired Columbus, Ohio-based developer Keith B. Key Enterprises to transform and run the community.

The prime demolition contractor, Phase One Development Corp. of Penn Hills, hired Three Rivers Dismantlement as its subcontractor. Executives at three of the largest area demolition firms -- Noralco, PRISM Response and Bristol Environmental -- said this week that they were not invited to bid on the job.

Developer Mr. Key explained in an email that Phase One got the job because of their ranking in a proposal process conducted by the authority in 2010.

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Questions raised over Pittsburgh demolition contract

It follows a campaign by residents and councillors in Johnstone to tear down the eyesore flats in Craigdonald Place, which had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

Yesterday approval was given for a contractor to begin the job of demolition with an estimated cost of 200,000.

Councillor Tommy Williams, convener of Renfrewshire Council's Housing Policy Board, said: "These flats have long been an eyesore and I'm pleased to announce that demolition will start on May 15."

The Evening Times reported in December how opposition Johnstone councillor Andy Doig had accused Renfrewshire Council of dragging its feet over the demolition.

Councillor Doig has now welcomed the decision by Renfrewshire Council's Procurement Sub Committee to authorise the contract for demolition.

He added: "Issues with the Craigdonald Flats were identified by the last SNP led administration in June 2010, and the consensus at that time was that given both the cost of investment needed to bring them up to an acceptable standard, and the fact that even then this would be no guarantee of their long term sustainability, it was agreed that demolition would be the best solution.

"Over recent years the process had been held up due to the reluctance of one owner to settle with the council, and in that period the flats sadly became a focus both for vermin, and for anti- social behaviour and fire-raising, causing much anguish to Johnstone town centre constituents.

"I have consistently raised the need for action to be taken so I am delighted that the demolition is moving forward.

"Johnstone town centre has great potential and I believe the removal of the flats will herald new opportunities for further investment in the town by business, or possible use of the site for new housebuilding.

"This will bring more people into the town which, in turn, will help town centre traders to remain viable so this is another step to a new powerhouse Johnstone."

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Demolition of eyesore flats will boost town

Piers James - Demolition (Official Music Video) (Prod. By Pseudonym Beats)
This is the debut single off the forthcoming B.A.T.A Vol 1 EP, with a heavy instrumental by Pseudonym Beats (a duo known as NikIll and Jagos) accompanied wit...

By: Piers James

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Piers James - Demolition (Official Music Video) (Prod. By Pseudonym Beats) - Video

Demolition Company #4
Check out this game called Demolition Company. Breaking stuff is fun! Hope you enjoy!

By: GigglyGod

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Demolition Company #4 - Video

El Paso, Texas City Hall Demolition on April 14th
City Hall Demolition on April 14th, 2013 in El Paso, Texas as seen from the rooftop of the El Paso Scottish Rite Temple across the street.You can view pictur...

By: Druid64

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El Paso, Texas City Hall Demolition on April 14th - Video

In a matter of eight seconds, City Hall was reduced to a pile of rubble Sunday morning.

"Everyone on the demolition team that I spoke to said it went absolutelytextbook, aside from a few pebbles and a few broken windows," said City Engineer Alan Shubert, the project manager for the ballpark.

The demolition of City Hall clears the way for construction to begin on the Triple-A baseball stadium, but first, crews will need to remove the mound of rubble.

Monday, tractors with big claws were seen scooping up the debris that will then be taken to the Clint landfill.

One construction vehicle even has a small wrecking ball on it.

Shubert estimates it will take about 1,000 truckloads to clear the site before ballpark construction can begin.

Shubert said the goal is to have everything cleared in the next two to three weeks.

"The urgency really is to get started on the ballpark project. We'd like to have all of that out of there within the next two weeks. I'll doubt if well make it but they'll do their level best," said Shubert.

But work on what will be the retaining wall on Missouri Street has already begun.

"We are asking them to remove around the back of the pile where we are starting on the retaining wall so we can start construction even if they're not done hauling,"said Shubert.

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Post-demolition, crews hurry to clear City Hall rubble

There has been another health scare for workers at the Port Stanvac refinery demolition site.

7News understands an excavator unearthed a large amount of asbestos last Saturday week.

It is believed as many as 12 workers were in the immediate area at the time.

An exclusion zone has been established, but there are fears exposed contractors werent properly decontaminated.

It is understood tests on their clothes later revealed traces of the potentially deadly substance.

It is not unusual for asbestos to be found on site there is apparently lots of it just below the grounds surface.

But some workers are worried about what they call a lack of procedure to protect them from it.

The construction workers union is also concerned the demolition contractor isnt keeping staff in the loop.

Workers only recently returned to the site after being sent home for about three weeks when traces of potentially lethal legionella were found in drinking water.

Mobil says every step is being taken to ensure the safety of its staff.

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Asbestos fears at refinery demolition

El Paso City Hall Demolition - IN SLOW MOTION!
El Paso City Hall Demolition on April 14th, 2013 in downtown El Paso. Check it out in SLOW MOTION! Follow me on twitter: @RemarkableRyan Find me on Tumblr: @...

By: Ryan Hall

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El Paso City Hall Demolition - IN SLOW MOTION! - Video