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There are
few things in life as prestigious as being able to claim a World
Record for some amazing feat, which is undoubtedly why so many
people and entities are constantly declaring them.
Well the
explosive demolition industry is no different, and over the
years there has always been a healthy competition for, and conflicting
claims to, World Records. Occasionally these quests for recognition
have been known to get a little trivial (Most people watching
an implosion from a public viewing area? Largest post-tensioned,
reinforced concrete structure in North America? Tallest building
in the Caribbean?)
Monumental
achievements in Barbados aside, implosionworld.com recognizes
the following projects as holding the current World Record in
specific major categories. Please note that we have intentionally
withheld the names of specific blasters and contracting companies.
It is generally recognized that, price and logistics being equal,
several of the industrys top firms are capable of performing
any of these projects (in fact, six different entities currently
hold these records). In addition, if youre really
intent on associating these events with blasters, most can be
found in other areas of this website and others if you poke
around enough.
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LARGEST
EXPLOSIVELY DEMOLISHED BUILDING
Sears Merchandise Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
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This
impressive structure was built by an army of 2,000 laborers
in 1918 and opened to the public in 1919. For seven decades
it served as the centerpiece of Northeast Philadelphia
before finally succumbing to 12,000 pounds of explosives
in 1994.
At
2.7 million square feet of floor space, the Sears Merchandise
Center has staved off numerous illegitimate claims to
this record, most notably the Hudsons building in
Detroit (2.2 million sq. ft.) and several 'large-but-hollow'
structures including the Carburendum Building in Niagara
Falls and the Kingdome in Seattle. Although the felling
of these latter buildings presented their own unique challenges,
each fell well short of the actual blasting footage necessary
to compete for this record.
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TALLEST
EXPLOSIVELY DEMOLISHED BUILDING
Hudsons Department Store
Detroit, Michigan USA
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At
first, protesters objected loudly to the razing of this
26-story, 439-foot tall structure located in the heart
of Detroits commercial district. But years of
neglect and decay precluded an economically viable alternative,
and the building was brought down in 1998.
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TALLEST
FREE-STANDING STRUCTURE
Matla Nuclear Power Station Smokestack
Johannesburg, South Africa
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After
an interior portion of this 906-foot concrete stack
collapsed during construction (killing 4 workers), blasting
specialists were rushed to the scene to explosively
fell the remainder of the structure. To the blasters
surprise, the concrete was so inferior that the massive
stack telescoped straight down instead of
laying out into a prepared trench as anticipated.
Nonetheless,
the endeavor was a success, and has held this record
since 1982.
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TALLEST
EXPLOSIVELY DEMOLISHED STRUCTURE
CBC Transmission Tower
Quebec, Canada
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Many
industry experts feel that this blast holds several records,
including Worlds
Most Peculiar Demolition Scenario.
In April 2001, a Canadian pilot flying in a dense fog
crashed his single-engine Cessna straight into a 1,217-foot
tall TV transmission tower
so straight, in fact,
that his plane remained stuck like a dart in the top of
the tower. Demolition experts were called in to recover
the wreckage by felling the structure with explosives,
and set a new height record in the process.
(Note:
Transmission-tower demolitions are placed in a separate
category because they are not free-standing.
Support wires attached to various points on the tower
remain connected to the ground throughout the demolition
process, thereby maintaining an element of physical
control notably dissimilar to other types of explosive
demolition projects)
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LONGEST
EXPLOSIVELY DEMOLISHED STRUCTURE
Interstate 80 Bridge, MP-177
Boston Mills, Ohio, USA
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With
the push of a button in November 2003, demolition experts
detonated 138 lbs. of RDX explosive charges to drop
the 2,680-foot long Ohio Turnpike Bridge spanning Cuyahoga
Valley National Park in Boston Mills, Ohio.
The
decision to blast all nine over-deck truss and four
girder spans simultaneously was primarily based on safety,
as it allowed State Police to close the adjacent heavily
traveled superhighway only once.
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MOST
STRUCTURES DEMOLISHED AT ONCE
(SHARED BY TWO PROJECTS)
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Stelco
Steel Plant
Hamilton, Ontario Canada
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This
1997 blast was the centerpiece of a major plant upgrade
and involved the simultaneous demolition of 20 structures
including warehouses, storage sheds and smokestacks. The
tricky part; all of the structures were constructed of steel,
which is generally considered more difficult to work with
than reinforced concrete. |
Bow
Valley Medical Center
Calgary, Alberta Canada
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Thirteen
months after the Hamilton project, a different team of
explosives experts performed an equally ambitious 20-building
undertaking at one of Calgarys most historic institutions.
There
were significant differences between the two events; whereas
the Stelco blast involved steel structures in a remote
industrial environment, Bow Valley involved taller concrete
structures nestled in a dense residential neighborhood.
Overall, Bow Valley seemed to take the edge in difficulty
due to the added burden of intense pre-blast publicity
that eventually required the management of tens of thousands
of sentimental spectators. At one point, the blast was
delayed 20 minutes while several hot-air balloons violated
air-space restrictions and swept in low over the complex.
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OLDEST
ITEM EXPLOSIVELY DEMOLISHED
The Great Buddas of Bamiyan
Central Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
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This
record was ignominiously set in March 2001 when, in
an attempt to destroy all religious monuments seen to
compete with Islam, Afghanistans ruling Taliban
ordered explosives experts to demolish two of the worlds
largest standing Buddas. The historical statues, rising
175 and 120 feet respectively, had been hewn out of
sandstone cliffs and dated back to the age of Christ.
The
explosive demolition was sharply criticized by leaders
around the world, and many others have since expressed
grief at the loss of what the BBC called one of
Asias greatest archeological treasures.
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