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Encyclopedia > Controlled demolition

Demolition is the opposite of construction: the tearing-down of buildings and other structures. Antonyms (from the Greek words anti = against and onoma = name) are word pairs that are opposite in meaning, such as hot and cold, fat and thin, and up and down. ... Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... Building is either the act of creating an object assembled from more than one element, or the object itself; see also construction. ... The structure of a thing is how the parts of it relate to each other, how it is put together. This contrast with process, which is how the thing works; but process requires a viable structure. ...


For most buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three storeys high, demolition is a rather simple process: the building is simply pulled down by excavators or bulldozers (see photo below, left). Larger buildings need the use of a wrecking ball that is swung into the sides of the buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry. This process is quite slow, but it puts the operator of the demolition equipment at a safe distance from any falling debris. In recent years this technique has fallen out of favour because of its slowness. See also list of house types. ... A tracked excavator by Daewoo. ... A bulldozer is a powerful crawler (caterpillar tracked tractor) equipped with a blade. ...


Large buildings, tall chimneys, and increasingly some smaller structures are destroyed by implosion by explosives. Imploding a building is very fast—the collapse itself only takes seconds—and an expert can ensure that a building falls into its own footprint, so as not damage neighbouring structures. This is essential as most tall structures are in dense urban areas. Any error can be disastrous, however, and some demolitions have failed, severely damaging neighbouring structures. The greatest danger is from flying debris which, when improperly prepared for, can kill onlookers. Even more dangerous is when a building fails to collapse completely. This often leaves the structure tilting at a dangerous angle and filled with undetonated explosives, making it impossible for workers to approach. Many of the dangers of a building's demolition can be seen in the destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists in 2001; its collapse destroyed several neighbouring buildings, and damaged others beyond repair. Flying debris injured and killed those nearby and a huge swath of Manhattan was covered in dust and debris. Chimney stacks on a Newcastle upon Tyne building A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. ... Implosion is a reverse explosion that concentrates matter and energy. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... The twin towers, photographed from the west The World Trade Center in New York City was a complex of seven buildings around a central plaza, near the south end of Manhattan in the downtown financial district. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Manhattan is an island bordering the lower Hudson River. ...

Enlarge
With heavy equipment, demolition of a house is a two man job that can be completed in a day or two.

A building takes several weeks to be prepared for implosion. All items of value, such as copper wiring, are stripped from a building. Some materials such as glass that can form deadly projectiles, insulation that can cover a wide area, and other materials also must be removed. Selected columns are drilled and nitroglycerin and TNT are placed in the holes. Smaller columns and walls are wrapped in explosive cables. The goal is to use as few explosives as possible, and only a few floors are rigged with explosives. The areas with explosive are covered in thick plastic and fencing to absorb flying debris. Far longer than the demolition itself is the cleaning up of the site where the debris most be loaded into trucks and carted away. The materials definition of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when a suitably viscous molten material cools very rapidly, thereby not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. ... Nitroglycerin, also known as nitroglycerine, trinitroglycerin, and glyceryl trinitrate, is a chemical compound, a heavy, colorless, poisonous, oily, explosive liquid obtained by nitrating glycerol. ... Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a pale yellow crystalline aromatic hydrocarbon compound that melts at 354 K (178 °F, 81 °C). ...


The destruction of large buildings has become increasingly common as the massive housing projects of the 1960s and 1970s are being levelled around the world. The tallest deliberately demolished building was the forty-seven storey Singer Building of New York City, which was built in 1908 and torn down sixty years later to be replaced by One Liberty Plaza. Public housing describes a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. ... Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... The Singer Building at Liberty Street and Broadway in Manhattan, New York was an office building completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
WTC7.net the hidden story of Building 7: Controlled Demolition (349 words)
One such company is Controlled Demolition Inc., which, incidentally, was subcontracted by Tully Construction to coordinate the removal of rubble from Ground Zero and the disposal of the structural steel in the months following the attack.
Controlled demolition destroys vertical steel structures while overcoming their tendency to topple onto adjacent real-estate.
Most demolitions seek to implode the building, causing the mass to move toward the center, resulting in a tidy rubble pile.
Building implosion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (551 words)
Building implosion is a term in use in the controlled demolition industry.
This controlled demolition technique refers to a specific need: when a building has to collapse as close as possible to its footprint to minimize physical damage to its immediate surroundings.
With the first skyscrapers being built and Dynamite, which is a high-velocity explosive, being made available in the 1900's, other considerations for the use of explosive demolition of building emerged: the safety of workers and spectators and limiting collateral damage to surroundings.
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