6
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
d
&
ri
WORLD NEWS
DEMOLITION BITS
Demolition of a block of flats
in Paisley, Scotland, was
put on hold after the final
remaining resident refused
to move out, despite living
with no heating and water
supply. Renfrewshire Council
had offered eight alternative
new homes to the tenant
and is now having to take
legal action to force him out
to allow the demolition of
Arkleston Court to proceed.
Indian minister of state
for urban development
Smt Deepa Dasmunshi
has called for a “holistic,
integrated and sustainable
waste management system”
countrywide to deal with
the growing volume of
construction and demolition
waste being produced in the
country every year.
Demolition has begun on the
1930s vintage east span of
the Bay Bridge over California
Bay following the completion
of its replacement.
Work is proving a major
challenge on this US$281
(Euro 208 million) project.
The old span's design makes
it fracture critical. Every joint,
whether welded or riveted, for
the 10,000 steel trusses is
a key element in the carefully
balanced structural forces
that hold the cantilevered
bridge together. Cut the
wrong piece in the wrong
order and disaster could be
the result.
The end for LST?
During court proceedings at the Wellheim District Court finalised
on 30 September 2013, German attachment supplier LST
was ordered into insolvency. Michael Schwienbacher, founder
and managing partner of LST Group, blamed the long winter of
2012 and subsequent flooding across Europe. This caused a
slump in construction activities across the region, leading to a
corresponding slump in equipment rental rates, which in turn has
resulted in cash flow problems for the Group.
An attempt to reduce the companies involved in the financing
of the Group from 35 down to just a maximum of five failed
over the course of 2013, as did an attempt to arrange bridging
finance. Herr Schweinbacher has been reported as saying: “The
aim currently is to keep the Group going, to make a smooth
transition of all company guarantees to new shareholders and
thus to minimise the resulting damage to all creditors and to also
safeguard jobs.” No information is currently available concerning
the impact of the insolvency on the latter.
LST Group consists of six companies: LST Gmbh, LST Greif- und
Ladetechnik, LST Maschinenbau Sachsen GmbH, LST Mietpark
GmbH, LST Service GmbH and Technosteel GmbH.
Doosan’s
presidential change
Scott Park has been named
president & CEO of Doosan
Infracore Construction
Equipment (DICE).
He will replace Tony Helsham,
who retires in February 2014,
having held the position since
2010.
Mr Park was most recently
global vice president of strategy,
manufacturing strategy and total
quality management (TQM) at
DICE, a position he had held
since early 2012.
He previously worked at
Volvo Construction Equipment,
a company that Mr Helsham was
also president of from 2000 to
2008.
“With more than 25 years
of experience and in-depth
knowledge related to strategy
development, manufacturing,
TQM and information
technology, I am confident
Scott will help us continue our
transformation and ensure we
deliver the innovative, quality
products and services our dealers
and customers have come to
expect from us,” said Doosan
Infracore President and CEO
Yongsung Kim.
He added, “It has been a
privilege working with Tony, and
I am grateful he shared his legacy
as an industry leader with us, our
dealers and our customers.”
■
Rusch rises again
One of the more innovative
suppliers to the demolition sector
has returned with a bang. Rusch
received an order for three of its
impressive RS 4500s in September
this year, with delivery required
by the end of October.
The customer concerned
ordered an RS 4500 H knuckle
boom using a Hitachi 870 carrier
with a reach of 42 m (138 ft)
carrying a 5 tonne tool, an RS
4500 C knuckle boom on a
Caterpillar 385 LRE carrier with a
similar reach and tool weight and
an second Cat based telescopic
boom with a reach of 60 m (197
ft), again with a 5 tonne tool
capacity.
Rusch worked 5,000 hours
over a four week period in three
shifts to complete the machines
to meet this tight timeline. This
was to allow the machines to
commence work within the tight
time constraints of the contract
that limited the work to between
November 2013 and January 2014.
The RS 4500s were ordered
by Saudi company SBG and will
be working on the MATAF Holy
Mosque extension project. They
will work on phase two of the
project this year and then again
on phase three over the same
period next year.
They gained TUV certification
and arrived in Jeddah on 8
November along with four Trevi
Benne HC 50 crushers and a
Furukawa F45 hydraulic breaker
also purchased by SBG.
A special crew has been
assembled to use the machines
in the field consisting of two
supervisors, two mechanics and
eight operators – six Dutch and
six British – who travelled to
Saudi Arabia at the beginning of
November.
D&Ri
hopes to report more
fully on the machines at work and
the project itself in an issue in
early 2014.
■
COURTESY OF HELENE DE BRUIJN PHOTOGRAPHY
The three Rusch RS 4500s awaiting delivery
