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Demolition/Environmental Engineering

July 4, 2008

Restoration Environmental Contractors take down smokestack at former Phillips Cable facility in Brockville

The chimneystack at the former Phillips Cable facility in Brockville was levelled shortly before noon last Tuesday. The event was part of continuing demolition work by Restoration Environmental Contractors (REC), on behalf of Junic Construction of Gatineau, Quebec.

June 20, 2008

Priestly Demolition crews raise some rubble at One Bloor project

Demolition is underway at the future site of the One Bloor condominium/hotel and retail project in Toronto.

June 6, 2008

2008 Consulting Engineers of Ontario Awards

Lambton Shores beach monitoring program.

June 3, 2008

TTC begins prequalification for Kipling subway station redevelopment

A $35-million redevelopment of the Toronto Transit Commission’s Kipling subway station and a parallel $19-million project at the nearby Islington station will get underway later this year, with construction scheduled for completion by 2010.

May 29, 2008

Aecon Buildings makes the connection at Bell’s Creekbank office

Work is ongoing at the Bell Creekbank Phase III Class “A” office in Mississauga, Ont.

May 15, 2008

High-tech restoration saves historic Alton Mill from wrecker’s ball

A 1880s industrial stone mill that originally seemed destined for demolition has come roaring back to life. After a 30-month, two-phase, $5-million restoration, the Alton Mill in the scenic village of Alton — just south of Orangeville — is nearing completion.

May 8, 2008

H & R Construction Management nears completion of Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre project

H & R Construction Management nears completion of Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre in Etobicoke, Ontario.

May 2, 2008

Residents still remember ‘lost’ towns

At 12:01 a.m. on April 28, 1938, four valley towns in western Massachusetts ceased to exist — their main streets and family farms soon to become the silty bottom of the massive Quabbin reservoir.

April 24, 2008

Contractors work in dead of night to complete make-over of Museum subway station

Re-cladding the track walls of the Toronto Transit Commission’s redesigned Museum subway station required tradesmen to work the graveyard shift. Jeviso Construction Corp. was the general contractor on the project.

April 22, 2008

Palazzo resort in Las Vegas claims title of world’s largest LEED building

With its recent certification by the US Green Building Council, the Palazzo resort in Las Vegas is the largest “green” building in the world — by a long shot, according to a recent report in online real estate site GlobeSt.com.

November 10, 2006

Strong structure no match for detonations

An explosion that took down three outside walls of the old Woodward’s department store created a mighty bang, a fitting last salute to the downtown Vancouver landmark store that had served generations.

November 10, 2006

Stakeholders fight misconceptions about demolition

Building demolition is commonplace, yet the industry is associated with major misconceptions. A prime example: despite the slow demise of the wrecking ball, the public still associates it with modern demolition efforts.

November 10, 2006

Perception influences recycling program's success

Between mountains of debris, water pools in trenches churned by loaders, trucks and excavators.

November 10, 2006

Bay Street smash

Three Murray Demolition excavators help to bring down the exterior walls on two 12-storey buildings at 335 and 347 Bay Street in downtown Toronto

November 10, 2006

Brownfields can become beautiful spaces

In the normal course of events, a site with a potential of 1,110 linear feet of downtown urban waterfront would have most developers elbowing each other out of the way to ink a deal.

November 10, 2006

LEEDing the way in Regent Park demo

Achieving Gold standard in LEED at Regent Park in Toronto started with the wrecking ball, as Restoration Environmental Contractors (REC) Demolition keeps in mind the environmental concerns for the two-year project.

November 10, 2006

Water treatment plant cleans up Howe Sound

A discovery of copper on Canada’s west coast in 1888 spurred the establishment of the Britannia Mine. By 1929 the mine was the largest copper producer in the British Commonwealth — and also one of the largest heavy-metal pollution sources on the continent.

November 10, 2006

Workplace education

After 12 years with vinyl products producer Royal Group Technologies, Stuart Clark got a good look at the amount of plastic waste being generated at construction sites.

November 10, 2006

Demo contractors keen on emergency response

Immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) arrived on the disaster scene to begin rescue efforts. Much of the work, however, couldn’t take place until heavy equipment had been moved in to lift debris, shore up unstable structures and demolish buildings facing imminent collapse.

November 10, 2006

Partial demos

When only partial demolition was required at Toronto landmark hotel Inn on the Park, Greenspoon Specialty Contracting had to look for unique solutions to preserve segments of the building which remained open.

November 10, 2006

Industry's evolution spurs association change

The demolition industry has experienced tremendous growth and dramatic change over the last 30-plus years. Images of unskilled, untrained laborers and swinging wrecking balls can rightly be considered relics of the past.

November 10, 2006

Economic forces best motivator for source separation

The ancient Romans understood the economic aspects of construction and demolition (C&D) recycling, re-using stones left over from old roads to build new ones. While regulation can enforce recycling activities, economic advantage tends to be the best motivator.

November 10, 2006

Training requirements for those working with asbestos

As of Nov. 1, 2007 workers and supervisors in Type 3 Asbestos Abatement sites in Ontario will be required to have completed a Training Program approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU). The specific wording in Ontario Regulation 278/05 reads as follows: