Rodriguez mentions that large structures are commonly demolished by using implosion technique in the urban areas. However, bringing down a building by explosives is not applicable when the buildings are close together. Moreover, it will cause danger to the surroundings and make it even harder to be demolished. Under these circumstances, high reach arm method is more suitable to be implemented in urban area.
First of all, the use of implosion technique is not always as effective and safe in urban areas. In the news article “No explosives or swinging balls: How high-rise demolitions go down in Singapore” (2017) reported by Aqil Haziq, a local award-winning demolition contractor, Mr Lim states that implosion method is not a good idea to be implemented in Singapore. As Singapore is a city with buildings closely built with one another, thus the explosion will affect the neighboring structures. What can be the worst scenario? It can be when the demolition crews did not plan the explosives precise enough, the explosion might not be strong enough to bring down the building completely at once. It will become very troublesome and dangerous for the demolition workers to deal with afterwards, because the structure of the building is already damaged and may collapses on itself anytime. In addition, based on the article “Pontiac Silverdome implosion fail: What went wrong and what happens now” (2017), Dave Bartkowiak stated: “The detonations went off as planned, but nothing fell and the implosion was a failure.” Based on these points, implosion method is not recommended to be use in the urban area, as this method might endanger the surrounding buildings.
Secondly, the outcome of using implosion method to ground a building cannot really be predicted. Based on the news article “‘You can’t really test explosives’ – why demolitions go wrong.” (2015), Thompson, a safety officer at DSR Demolition in South Yorkshire, stated: “The building does what it wants to do in the end.” The demolition of Red Road flats in Glasgow has failed, not because the demolition crew make the mistakes. The reason is, even though everything is prepared very well, the result cannot always be according to what has been planned. As the final stage of implosion cannot be one hundred percent guaranteed, this creates a risk of collision of the structure to the surrounding buildings. This can be further supported by the news article “22-Floor Residential Tower in China Demolished, Partially”, where the demolition of a 22-floor building in LiZhou has almost cause a disaster. Instead of going all the way down to the ground, the building broke into two parts with one side smash sideways and the other remain standing. Through the points elaborated, it’s proved that it is not certain what will actually be happened after detonation. In this case, implementing implosion method to demolish a building in urban area is not wise as it may result in serious disasters.
Lastly, due to the uncertainty of using implosion technique and the danger it might bring about, high reach arm demolition method is safer and better to be carry out in urban area. There are many advantages by using high reach excavator. Based on the article “High-Reach Excavators Increase Demolition Accuracy”, the author states a few benefits. He mentioned that high reach arm improves accuracy and efficiency. Due to the different building structures that the demolition crews have to deal with, high reach excavator makes it convenient as the head of the arm is changeable. This allows the operator to pick the most suitable machine head to do the job. In this way, the quick swapping of demolition techniques also saves time. Moreover, he also mentioned it enhances the safety of demolition crews, because they can dismantle the building by operating the high reach excavator from a distance, such that the falling fragments will not post danger to workers. Furthermore, the author stated: “More flexible in tight spot”. As I mentioned earlier, high reach arm can overcome the weakness faced by implosion, as it can be operated accurately even in narrow locations. With the above benefits, high reach arm method allows the workers to decide which area to be demolish first rather than using explosive with uncertainty.
References
Aqil
Haziq Mahmud. (2017). No explosives or swinging balls: How high-rise
demolitions go down in Singapore. Channelnewsasia.
Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/no-explosives-or-swinging-balls-how-high-rise-demolitions-go-9425362
Dave
Bartkowiak Jr. (2017). Pontiac Silverdome implosion fail: What went wrong and
what happens now. Clickondetroit.
Retrieved from https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/pontiac-silverdome-implosion-fail-what-went-wrong-and-what-happens-now-
IndiaTVnews.
(2010). 22-Floor Residential Tower In China Demolished, Partially. Retrieved,
September 30, 2018, from https://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/masala/22-floor-residential-tower-in-china-demolished-partially-210.html
Ramaswamy.C
. (2015). ‘You can’t really test explosives’ – why demolitions go wrong. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2015/oct/12/explosives-demolitions-go-wrong-red-road-flats-glasgow-controlled
High-Reach
Excavators Increase Demolition Accuracy. (2012). Elder Demolition. Retrieved, September 27, 2018 from https://www.elderdemolition.com/commercial-industrial-demolition-high-reach-excavators-benefits-09-2012/
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