WTTW #39;s "Remembering Chicago: The #39;70s #39;80s"
Disco, Daley and Da Bears! It #39;s WTTW #39;s latest nostalgic documentary. The Sears Tower was built, leisure suits were hip, Disco Demolition ended an era... step back in time with us fFrom:VeloChicagoViews:0 0ratingsTime:08:31More inEntertainment
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WTTW's "Remembering Chicago: The '70s
By Kloe Palmer
A demolition expert who dug through the rubble in the hours following the CTV building collapse has spoken of his experience as he pulled a woman to safety.
Diggers, cranes and concrete cutters were just some of the machinery that helped in the rescue operation.
It is hoped demolition crews can help a coronial inquest determine how and when eight people died after they survived the initial collapse.
Douglas Watts of OMC Power was certain he could hear a human cry from beneath the rubble his machinery was working on. He called for silence and started digging by hand.
According to Mr Watts, this happened soon after his crew arrived, which he says wasnt long after the earthquake struck.
The first thing she said when she got out was, in an Asian accent, 50 more people, 50 more people, thats when I realised there were more people in there.
During this stage of the Coronial Inquiry, emergency services have come under fire for being disorganised during the initial stages of the rescue.
Today, demolition workers who helped on site were asked their opinion.
Jason Campbell of Smith Crane and Construction told the inquiry his crane was used to lift some of the first firefighters on the scene to the top of the buildings burning lift shaft, to check for survivors.
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CTV collapse: Demolition expert dug woman to safety
Linzi Watson Published 31 Oct 2012 12:30 1 Comment
DEMOLITION work on the former Greenock High School will start in July to make way for new national women's prison HMP Inverclyde.
It was confirmed this week that the 60 million jail - originally planned as a replacement for Greenock's Gateside Prison - will become a 'custom made' facility to replace Cornton Vale, near Stirling.
This means that Gateside will now stay open for male prisoners, making Greenock a two-prison town.
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said that the site of the new HMP Inverclyde, pictured, which is currently occupied by the decanted St Columba's High School, will become vacant at the end of the school year in July.
He added: "After this we can begin demolition work.
"There will be some alterations to the design of the new prison to make it suitable as a female-only facility."
In an announcement on made Monday, justice secretary Kenny MacAskill announced that the new HMP Inverclyde will house high-risk and long-term female offenders.
The specialist jail is likely to have a mother-and-baby unit, plus a separate unit for young women and appropriate medical facilities. A spokesman for the SPS told the Telegraph that as a 'medium term' solution to the change of plan, both prisons will operate in the town for a number of years.
He added: "I would expect to see both Gateside and HMP Inverclyde open in 2016 with the two prisons continuing to operate in the town for some time to come.
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Demolition work for jail starts next year
Demolition crews worked quickly Wednesday to bring down a condemned Hill District house before it collapsed on its own.
Rhoda Christian told Channel 11 News she was afraid that her Cliff Street home was in danger because part of the condemned house on Cassett Street collapsed Tuesday night.
According to Christian, bricks and debris fell dangerously close to the back of her home. She said her porch and fence were damaged.
Christian said she believes heavy rain and the saturated ground are to blame.
I was very afraid. I didnt even stay in my house last night, Christian said. I was afraid the rest of the house was going to fall down and tear my house up.
Crews said they started the demolition process last week, but rain caused a delay.
Paul Loy works with the City Building Inspections department and said demolition crews are rushing to take the rest of the house down.
It was just one of those unfortunate things in an imperfect world, Loy said.
According to Loy, the damage at Christians home will be paid for by the city of the contractor.
Originally posted here:
Demolition crews bring down condemned Hill District home
By Jessica Rowe
A demolition expert at the CTV building collapse has criticised the use of a human chain to remove rubble as a waste of time.
He told the coroner's inquest into the deaths of eight people who survived the initial collapse that machinery would have been a far more effective way of getting to survivors.
Southern Demolition owner Alan Edge arrived at the CTV building site two hours after it collapsed with three diggers and five staff.He says rescue workers who formed a human chain to remove debris by hand were wasting crucial time.
Having 20 people removing rubble might feel good but it was achieving nothing, he says.
Mr Edge was frustrated that he was unable to use his heavy machinery.
We could remove the debris [in] a much faster amount of time.
Jason Campbell used his crane to lift some of the first fire fighters on the scene to the top of the building's burning lift shaft to check for survivors.As time went on, he says Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) took over and demolition workers given a back seat.
"We got told USAR think like rescuing people, think like recovering people, contractors are all rip, sh** and bust, Mr Edge says.
Douglas Watt who joined the rescue soon after the quake struck pulled a woman from the rubble.
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Machines needed in CTV rescue - demolition expert
The demolition of the E.C. Electroplating plant, the cause of a chromium spill almost 30 years ago in Garfield, was completed without any disturbances to Roosevelt Elementary School, which is located near the site, on Oct. 22.
PHOTO/RICHARD MARDEKIAN
Demolition is complete of the E.C. Electroplating plant.
The Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) on-site coordinator Neil Norrell said that the building demolition was completed and the EPA is removing leftover debris.
During the demolition, air and dust monitoring systems were set up around the superfund site and at Roosevelt School 7. Norrell said no alarms went off during this time, except for one near the railroad tracks. Norrell said there were peaks in dust when trains were going by.
Garfield was added to the Superfund list of the most toxic places in the nation in September after 30 years of contamination in part of the city. The area is bordered by Van Winkle Avenue, Monroe Street, Sherman Place and the Passaic River. The E.C. Electroplating Co. plant is located on Clark Street, which is believed to be the source of the contamination. Roosevelt Elementary School 7 and a daycare center are also located near the site.
The E.C. Electroplating site is located in a mixed residential and commercial area of Garfield. In December 1983, approximately 3,640 gallons of chromium plating solution (chromic acid) containing about 5,400 pounds of chromium was discharged from a partially below ground storage tank contaminating groundwater beneath the site. Wells were installed to monitor groundwater and partially recover some of the discharged product.
School 7 was tested for chromium before demolition started and will be tested again once the debris is removed. Parents from School 7 had concerns about keeping their children in school during the demolition but the EPA said that there was no need to relocate them.
No transfers were given to students during the demolition. School Superintendent Nicholas Perrapato said one parent met with him to discuss having a transfer but after talking and he assured them of all the precautions that were made they were satisfied.
"Everything went smoothly at School 7," Perrapato said. "From the EPAs standpoint, from what they stated there werent any major concerns and they fulfilled their promises with no issues."
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Plant demolition completed near elementary school in Garfield
FORT MYERS -
Demolition of the old Radisson hotel in South Fort Myers is underway. The once popular hotel on US-41, just north of College Parkway, is being torn down to make way for new shops and businesses.
Crews began tearing down the hotel as well as the Tiki Bar Restaurant Thursday.
Honc Industries Vice President Steve Honc says his team will clear out the entire 5.6-acre site over the next six weeks.
"Toward the end of the completion of the project, we'll be taking down the five story tower so that will be the exciting part - but no surprises so far," he said.
Developer Dan Creighton put to rest rumors that LA Fitness would be a new tenant, saying instead he looks to add two national chain restaurants for the first time in Lee County.
"Then we've got another tenant coming in here I can't even hint on, that will also be the first into Southwest Florida as well so this corner's going To bring a lot of new business to Florida," he said.
Creighton says he hopes to make way for new building early next year.
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Demolition begins on Fort Myers hotel
GARFIELD Demolition of the E.C. Electroplating building ended Monday afternoon, a little over a week after it began, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys coordinator at the scene, Neil Norrell.
Air samples were still being analyzed for possible contamination, but Norrell said he did not anticipate any problems.
So far, everything looks okay, Norrell said.
The EPA has been handling the cleanup of the former E.C. Electroplating plant, a Clark Street business where three tons of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium spilled from a tank in 1983. Initial cleanup of the spill was halted in 1985, even though only about 30 percent of the chromium was recovered. Since then, contaminated water has been coursing beneath an area of approximately 600 homes and businesses in the southwest corner of the city. Local and federal officials say drinking water has not been affected, but the contamination has infiltrated the basements of about 20 properties.
EPA officials have said that the building itself was not contaminated with hexavalent chromium, but they needed to tear it down to get at a pool of highly concentrated chromium they believe is beneath the plant. Despite the EPAs assurances, residents especially parents of students attending two nearby elementary schools had expressed concern before the demolition about its potential impact on their children.
The EPA took precautions to prevent dust from drifting off the site during demolition, which began on Oct. 12. Monitors were also set up at the schools and several other locations in the neighborhood to measure dust levels in the air, and air samples were taken every day, Norrell said.
No problems have been reported, he said.
The air monitors will remain in place while the building debris is removed from the site, Norrell said.
Email: lueddeke@northjersey.com
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Demolition has begun on several buildings to make way for a new $11 million community service centerfor Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley.
The former Benhams property and all of the buildings in the 600 block of South Main are being demolished to make way for the new community service center.
Buying the buildings, tearing them down and remediating the land is expected to cost about $3.15 million, Goodwill Easter Seals officials said. A $2.2 million Clean Ohio state grant will pay about 70 percent of those per-construction costs, with Goodwill putting up $905,000 and neighboring Miami Valley Hospital contributing $47,000.
The 80,000-square-foot facility will house the 125 employees who currently work at Goodwills Kuntz Road headquarters off Stanley Avenue.
Agency officials anticipate creating 50 more jobs during the next five years at the new center. When it opens in late 2014 or early 2015, the community service center will allow Goodwill Easter Seals to expand its services to the developmentally disabled, elderly and unemployed - services that are in high demand because of the recession and aging population.
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Demolition begins at Newcastle flats complex left in danger of collapse after floods
9:37am Tuesday 23rd October 2012 in News By Bruce Unwin, Chief Reporter (Durham)
DEMOLITION began today at a block of flats left in danger of collapse due to heavy flooding earlier this year.
A demolition crew started dismantling Spencer Court in Newburn, Newcastle, at 8am, after engineers deemed it unsafe to leave standing.
Families from the eight flats were evacuated from their homes on the complex after flash flooding last month posed serious threat to the foundations, already damaged by a culvert collapse on nearby land earlier this year.
An excavator from MGL Demolition began by removing part of the roof of the four-storey building, which was only constructed in 2006.
It is being operated in what is termed a safe and controlled demolition, which may allow some property and possessions to be recovered by exasperated residents, who have not been allowed to return to their homes, on safety grounds, for almost four weeks.
As a result the work dismantling Spencer Court may take up to two weeks to complete.
Complex developer Dunelm Homes, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, brought in the demolition crew after its insurers gave the all clear for the work to proceed.
Neither Dunelm Homes or Northumberland Estates, which owns the adjoining land under which the culvert collapsed, have accepted liability for the situation.
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Demolition begins at flat complex left in danger of collapse after floods