CONTROLLED DEMOLITION

• Controlled Demolition is the opposite of

construction.
• The tearing-down of buildings and other
structures it is contrasted with deconstruction,
which is the taking down of buildings while
carefully preserving valuable elements for re-
use.
METHODS OF CONTROLLED
DEMOLITION
• Wrecking Ball
• Using Equipments such as high reach
excavators
• Hydro Demolition
• Controlled Foam Injection
• Implosion
WRECKING BALL

• In case of masonry structure this method is

very useful. In this method a large heavy steel
or iron ball is used. It is swung into the
structure with the help of a crane. When the
ball hits the structure, it demolishes it.
USING EQUIPMENTS

• For most of the building with less height, this

method is useful to pull down the structure.
This method can be use for the Reinforced
Concrete structures too. The boom of the
excavator is lengthened and the bucket pulls
down the building
HYDRO DEMOLITION

• Hydro-demolition is the technology that uses

extremely high pressure water jets that are
capable of removing concrete while not
damaging the rebar. The maximum allowed
reaction force created by water is 250 N for
hand held equipment and forces from 1000 N
up to 4000 N when the robots are used in this
process.
CONTROLLED FOAM
INJECTION
• This method is based on the use of high
pressure foam to initiate, pressurize and
propagate controlled fracturing in the concrete
and rocks. This method eliminates the air
blast, fly-rock and toxic fume problems.
IMPLOSION

• An implosion is an event where something

collapses inward, because the external
atmospheric pressure is greater than the
internal pressure.
• For example, if we pump the air out of a
glass tube, it might implode.
• A building implosion isn't truly an
implosion -- atmospheric pressure doesn't
pull or push the structure inward, gravity
makes it collapse.
PRINCIPLE OF IMPLOSION

• The basic principle of the implosion is that the

main load bearing structure of the building is
demolished and it in turn weakens the building
to fall within itself not damaging the adjacent
structures.
METHODS OF IMPLOSION

• The building can be toppled to one side where

there is a parking lot or an open ground which
doesn’t affect the other structures surrounding
the building to be demolished
METHODS OF IMPLOSION

• The explosives are

kept at the base of
the building on one
side.
• As they explode the
balance is lost and
the building topples
on one side.
METHODS OF IMPLOSION
METHODS OF IMPLOSION
• when the building to be
demolished is
surrounded by other
structures, it can be
imploded that it falls
within itself without
damaging the adjacent
structures
EXPLOSIVES

• Dynamite
• RDX
DYNAMITE

• Dynamite is just absorbent stuffing soaked in a

highly combustible chemical or mixture of
chemicals.
• When the chemical is ignited, it burns quickly,
producing a large volume of hot gas in a short
amount of time.
DYNAMITE

• This gas expands rapidly, applying immense

outward pressure up to 600 tons per square
inch.
• When the explosives are ignited, the sudden
outward pressure sends a powerful shock wave
busting through the column at supersonic
speed, shattering the concrete into tiny chunks .
RDX

• Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine
is called as RDX.
• RDX-based explosive compounds expand at a
very high rate of speed, up to 27,000 feet per
second (i.e.) 8,230 meters per second.
• Instead of disintegrating the entire column, the
concentrated, high-velocity pressure slices
right through the steel, splitting it in half
EXPLOSIVES
HOW TO IGNITE

• To ignite both RDX and dynamite, we must

apply a severe shock.
• A small amount of explosive material is used
as primary charge.
• In traditional method, one end of the cord is
ignited and it travels to the other end.
HOW TO IGNITE

• These days electrical detonators are used.

• They have a lead line.
• At the detonator end, the cable is surrounded
by explosive material.
• The resistance of the material heats it up and
in turn the explosives explode.
A traditional rack-bar A modern electronic control box
 PREPARATION FOR
IMPLOSION
• The blast crew examines architectural
blueprints of the building, to determine how
the building is put together.
• The blaster crew tours the building several
times, jotting down notes about the support
structure on each floor.
• Once they have gathered all the raw data they
need, the blasters hammer out a plan of
attack.
 PREPARATION FOR
IMPLOSION
• Drawing from past experiences with similar
buildings, they decide what explosives to use,
where to position them in the building and
how to time their detonations.
• In some cases, the blasters may develop 3-D
computer model of the structure so they can
test out their plan ahead of time in a virtual
world.
 PREPARATION FOR
IMPLOSION
• Construction crews, or, more accurately, destruction
crews, begin taking out non-load-bearing walls
within the building. This makes for a cleaner break
at each floor: If these walls were left intact, they
would stiffen the building, hindering its collapse.
• Destruction crews may also weaken the supporting
columns with sledge hammers or steel-cutters, so
that they give way more easily.
 PREPARATION FOR
IMPLOSION
• Blasters can start loading the columns with
explosives.
• The blasters check with the structural plan to
load the columns with the required explosives.
• The crew sometimes carries out the test
explosions to check the stiffness of the
structure.
TEST EXPLOSION
PREPARATION FOR
IMPLOSION
• During the test explosions the column is
wrapped around with the geo-textile or thick
plastic and the area is fenced.
• After the check is carried out, the structure is
bored or drilled at required places and the
explosives are kept.
• The explosives are connected to the detonating
equipments.
FINAL SHOWDOWN

• The blasting crew perform a last check and

they clear the building area.
• Once the area is clear, the blasters retreat to
the detonator controls and begin the
countdown. The blasters may sound a siren at
the 10-minute, five-minute and one-minute
mark, to let everyone know when the building
will be coming down.
FINAL SHOWDOWN

• If they are using an electrical detonator, the

blasters have a detonator controller with two
buttons, one labeled "charge" and one labeled
"fire."
• Toward the end of the countdown, a blaster
presses and holds the "charge" button until an
indicator light comes on.
FINAL SHOWDOWN

• This builds up the intense electrical charge

needed to activate the detonators.
• After the detonator-control machine is
charged, and the countdown is completed, the
blaster presses the "fire" button releasing the
charge into the wires so it can set off the
blasting caps.
FINAL SHOWDOWN

• After the cloud has cleared, the blasters survey

the scene and review the tapes to see if
everything went according to plan.
• At this stage, it is crucial to confirm that all of
the explosives were detonated and to remove
any explosives that did not go off.
PRECAUTIONS
• As the explosives are handled, high expertise
is needed.
• The flying articles from the building pose a
threat to the onlookers and the adjacent
structures.
• The debris should be checked fully for the
undetonated explosives, which may be
dangerous for the debris removing crew.
CASE STUDY

• King dome is a sports stadium in Seattle.

• Diameter: 660 feet
• Height: 150 feet
• Capacity: 40000
• Built: 1976
• Demolished: 2000
Demolition of King Dome

• The King dome

consisted of two
main categories of
construction which
held the building up,
and support
construction which
could be removed.
Demolition of King Dome

• Nonstructural ramps,
slabs, and siding
were removed to
reduce the amount of
debris that fell to the
ground.
Demolition of King Dome
• Explosives were placed in the structure at
key locations.
 Demolition of King Dome
• Demolition of the
main structure
occurred in two phases
of a single implosion
sequence. Explosives
in the Phase 2 areas
were detonated several
seconds after Phase 1.
Demolition of King Dome

• Special material wrapped the structure at the

blast points to control the explosion.
Demolition of King Dome
• Small explosions
fractured the rigid
concrete allowing
the structure to
buckle and fall. The
flexible rebar
remained intact,
acting like ropes to
pull the columns
toward the center.
Demolition of King Dome

• Gravity did most of the work.

Demolition of King Dome

• Phase 1 continued to
fall, helping to pull
Phase 2 in. Phase 2
was detonated
several seconds later
and collapsed and
fell the same as
Phase 1.
Demolition of King Dome

• More explosions further fractured the

concrete into smaller pieces.
Demolition of King Dome
• About 20 seconds after
the first explosion, the
entire structure collapsed
with all of the debris
falling within the
Kingdome footprint.
• The detonation area
provided latitude around
the entire perimeter for
structural debris to fall
adjacent to the footprint,
but still within the
demolition site.
CONCLUSION
• Implosion technique is a very economical and useful
but with the tag that it should be a carefully handled
technique.
• This method is mostly used in developed countries
only. In our country the use of this technique is
steadily gaining its momentum.
• The knowledge about this technique would be
handful for the people in future construction industry.