Deep in the Heart of DEMOLITION

Published: 24/7

The National Demolition Association’s Demolition San Antonio truly has something for everyone.

For 13 days during the Texas Revolution in early 1836, approximately 200 volunteer soldiers defended the Alamo mission in what is now San Antonio against repeated onslaughts by Mexico’s army before finally falling to the superior force. Though much has changed in the intervening decades, the defenders’ willing defiance and fortitude lives on through the slogan, “Remember the Alamo.”

Just steps away from the venerated site this past March, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center was the setting for many far more pleasant memories as the headquarters for Demolition San Antonio, the National Demolition Association’s 50th annual convention and expo.

The show set multiple records for participation, attracting more than 1,400 attendees from across the U.S. for a week of education, networking, and the always popular off-site Live DEMOlition Event, which featured 27 participating manufacturers demonstrating nearly 50 pieces of equipment for all types of demolition tasks. Back at the Convention Center, Demolition San Antonio set its own milestone with 108 exhibitors, including PDa magazine.

(NDA CEO Jeff Lambert shares his thoughts about the show in his regular column elsewhere in this issue.)

Such a strong turnout of both attendees and exhibitors reflected a still-strong demolition industry, particularly coming just two months after World of Concrete in Las Vegas boasted its own strong showing. In fact, several manufacturers took advantage of the NDA show to debut and demonstrate new products for contractors of all sizes.

LiveDEMO provided a natural setting for the larger product introductions led in size at least by Komatsu’s PC490HRD-11 high-reach demolition excavator. Making its North American debut, the 362hp (270kW) model has as an operating weight of 55.2t to 73.4t and can be configured into six working arrangements. Komatsu also provided a preview of a 257-hp (192kW) demolition version of its PC360LC-11 excavator, which is scheduled for availability in North American market in the next few months. Komatsu says the machine

Other big-time introductions were Volvo’s 50t EC500 crawler-excavator with a 25.5-ft (7.7 m) straight boom and heavier counterweight for added stability. The EC500 was one of eight machines Volvo brought to San Antonio, joining the compact EC18 Electric 2t electric and 10t ECR88 diesel excavators.

Liebherr presented its 40t 299-hp (220kW) R 938 Litronic crawler-excavator with a “Generation 8” update that includes higher engine power, minimized fuel consumption, and a new boom concept. Caterpillar demonstrated its 30t 330 crawler-excavator with a 19.1-ft (5.8m) maximum digging depth and straight boom vertical reach of 40.9 ft (12.48m).

LiveDEMO also offered a “hands-on” spotlight opportunity for products from Montabert, Genesis, Steelwrist, Brokk, HKD, Eiproc, Oil Quick, and Mecalac, to name a few.

Other exhibition highlights included ShearCore’s array of Fortress FS25, FS45, and FS25 mobile shears, and FC35 concrete process with OilQuick automatic quick coupler bracket. Dust suppression specialist BossTek displayed the next iteration of its DustBoss Surge series—the DB-45 Surge.® The model features an innovative pressurized center nozzle paired with a fan and misting ring system to suppress both surface dust and airborne particulates. And, Terex’s Evoquip division presented the versatile Cobra 290R track-mounted impact crusher, with an integrated afterscreen system to ensure consistent crushing to exact specifications.

In addition to learning about equipment, Demolition San Antonio’s exhibit floor was also the setting for a variety of educational sessions spanning safety, technology, and workforce development. The popular cornhole tournament returned this year while a new wrinkle was added to Live DEMO—a competition for two-operator contractor teams to show off their safety knowledge and equipment handling skills. Venditti Demolition of Austin, Texas, took the grand prize—an all-inclusive paid trip at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa in Williamsburg, Va. Challenge sponsor Liebherr provided two excavator models for the competition, with Epiroc, ShearCore, and OilQuick supplying other equipment.

And of course, there were several opportunities for industry colleagues to relax and swap both experiences and business cards, ranging from a suitably local Tex-Mex fiesta to a black-tie awards banquet honoring individuals and companies who have made significant industry contributions over the past year.

In addition to a wealth of memories and industry information, Demolition San Antonio attendees likely left for some newfound inspiration for their work courtesy of Mikel Bowman, the keynote speaker at the NDA annual breakfast meeting. A Bloomington, Ind.-based consultant in leadership development and organizational culture, Bowman shared insights from his career in mining and safety management on how contractors can “lead from the middle”—finding the optimal the balance of empathy and decision-making to build and sustain productive, mutually supportive organizations.

Bowman also related a deeply personal story of how he had mere seconds to react to a worker experiencing a mental health crisis. Choosing the right words to say was critical, Bowman said, as anything else likely would have resulted in the worker taking his own life. We won’t spoil the outcome, but suffice it to say, more than a few of those who rose to give Bowman a standing ovation at the end of his talk had tears in their eyes. Can anything top the memories of Demolition San Antonion? We’ll find out in March 2025 when NDA’s convention and expo reconvenes in New Orleans.