demolition bits

•Chinese municipality Chungqing is to spend 100 billion Yuan (US$13.8 million) over the next five years on the demolition and renovation of old, dilapidated housing in its nine urban districts.

• US contractor Homrich Inc has been awarded a US$0.9 million (€0.7 million) contract for the demolition of the former St Francis Central Hospital on Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, according to news reports.

• Legislators in China's Shaanxi Province have enacted a law intended to help protect the environment of the Qinling Mountains, a habitat occupied by giant pandas, currently on the endangered species list. The law, which will take effect on March 1, will require local authorities to ensure the immediate demolition of any existing structures that are potentially harmful to the ecology of the region.

• The 80,000 seater Lia Manoliu stadium in Bucharest, Romania, is to be demolished as part of a €120 million (US$180 million) project to replace it with two new stadiums – one a 55,000 seat fottball stadium and the other a 15,000 seat athletics/football venue.

• Should the expansion of London Heathrow airport by the addition of a third runway be given approval, some 700 homes near Europe's most congested airport, including the community of Sipson, and a local primary school and community centre, would need to be demolished.