Leaning tower leans no longer…
Implosion finally fells incomplete South Padre Island’s “Leaning Tower”.
It leaned like a drunk in a strong wind and it was more incomplete than the war in Afghanistan, but this weekend the South Padre Island leaning tower finally came down.
One local news report suggests that the post-implosion clean-up operation could take until April and, judging by this photo, even that might prove ambitious.
You can read the story of this troubled structure here or cut to the chase and watch the video of its final demise below.
Posted: December 14th, 2009 under General.
Comments
Comment from john woodward
Time December 14, 2009 at 6:05 pm
They probably say something like “The mass to weight ratio of the main members were disproportionate to the height and width of the intervening cross members, leading to a smaller than average bio fragmentation both vertically and laterally” (which means we could have done with a bit more dynamite).
Comment from admin
Time December 14, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Thanks for the science lesson John, and for clarifying what all that meant so that idiots like me can understand it!!
Comment from Newby
Time December 14, 2009 at 10:47 pm
My next question is, how do you define the level of debris breakage in a contract or proposal? What keeps the implosion contractor from saying “Seeyah! I have a plane to catch!” and leaving the contractor (or subcontractor) with a 6 story high pile of crap?
Comment from RobertKulinski
Time December 15, 2009 at 2:58 pm
It’s usually covered in the proposal which is then attached to the contract. Typically, the implosion contractor will find out what size equipment is going to be used to handle and remove the debris and will tailor the blasting plan to suit. Some contractors have medium 40,000 to 60,000 or so lb machines and some of the other contractors have big machines 100,000 lbs +. So, what’s good for one maybe not so good for the other. In the proposal, under the scope of work there will be something like “The implosion subcontactor will fell the structure resulting in debris that can be handled by a (Cat 965, etc. etc.) excavator equpped with a (digging bucket, UP, etc.). The lump sum fee also includes a representative on site post implosion for 3 days to assist the contractor in debris handling operations. Any days over the 3 included shall be billed to the contractor at $___ per day.
Comment from Newby
Time December 14, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I am confused. When a smaller building in the 5 to 8 storey range is imploded they always use the excuse that “the building lacked the mass and height” to properly fragment the debris. What reason do they use on a project like this when they fail to achieve an adequate level of debris fragmentation?