Another feature of Plymouth’s skyline is to vanish with the dismantling of the colossal Devonport crane this weekend. The crane, which has towered over Devonport Dockyard for 25 years is being taken down today and tomorrow in one of the biggest engineering operations the city has ever seen.
Read the full story here.
Colossus of Devonport…
Bendy boom time-lapse…
Not sure where this video was shot but it’s pretty good quality. Not sure about the bendy-boom high reach mind:
Demolition Time Lapse from Nick Csakany on Vimeo.
Bring back the dropball…
Archaic, noisy, dusty and old-fashioned…but still remarkably efficient.
Building Demolition from videorizing on Vimeo.
Highly unusual demolition application…
Over the years, I have seen buildings, bridges and even ships demolished but this is the first time I have ever seen an aircraft (and a large one at that) demolished.
Implosion insight…
The problem with most implosion videos is that (a) they’re shot from way outside the exclusion zone and (b) are usually obscured by local people trying to capture the moment on camcorders and mobile telephones.
This one of the implosion of the Parliament House Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama is nice as it actually shows the inside of the building, illustrating the pre-weakening and charge-setting.
The beauty of explosive demolition…
Demolition is more science than art; just ask any true demolition or explosives engineer. However, take a look at this video, particularly around 40 seconds in, and tell me there’s not something vaguely artistic and almost beautiful about the synchronised dropping of the three towers.
Inevitable dust cloud…
Proof, if it were needed, that the public just doesn’t understand the world of demolition. Yes, explosive demolition is an incredible spectacle but NO, it is not a dust-free environment.
Implosion failure explanation…
The Internet is a marvelous invention and it has revolutionised information gathering and global communications. However, if it has one major disadvantage, it is the fact that if you do something wrong in front of a camera, it will still be haunting you a quarter of a century later. And please, please wait for the explanation….it’s priceless!
Why structures aren’t generally pulled down…
Ever wondered why structures are systematically dismantled rather than just pulled down?
Now you know!
No reprieve for Texan jail…
There was no last-minute reprieve for the old Ellis County Jail in Dallas. Demolition crews tore down the 1929 building Monday to make way for a parking garage and a new county courts facility.
Full story here.
