Over time, new buildings and infrastructures get erected,
whether on a fresh site or a site that already has an existing structure.
When it is the latter these existing structures may have to be demolished.
And that's where control demolition comes in.
Controlled demolition involves experts using incredibly risky explosives
to bring down structures as safely as possible.
Although it is indeed controlled,
the implosions of these buildings are still a sight to behold.
From stadiums to dams to skyscrapers.
Here are some of the largest objects mankind has blown up,
both carefully and deliberately.
The Kenzie Power Station, Scotland.
The Kenzie Power Station was a coal fired power
station located in East Lothian, Scotland.
Occupied a 24 hectare site.
The station was officially opened on the 24th of May 1968
from 1967
until the chimneys were demolished in September 2015.
The station overlooked the area shoreline with its unique twin chimneys.
The power plant was removed in parts with the twin chimneys and turbine hall
being the first to be dismantled in a controlled explosion on September 26th.
Then the front portion of the boiler house was demolished on November 4th,
and the rest of the boiler house was demolished on December 17th.
20, 15.
What could be more satisfying than two massive buildings
colliding and destroying each other perfectly?
Thousands of people gathered at surrounding vantage points and on board
a flotilla of small boats in the firth of forth
to observe the demolition of the East Lothian landmark.
The chimneys of the former coal fired power plant fell in a matter of seconds,
releasing towering clouds of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the change in the iconic skyline
was evident Kingdom Seattle, one of Seattle's most famous structures.
The kingdom was demolished on March 26th 2000.
It was a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington.
The United States located in the industrial district area
before its demolition.
The Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, NFL
the Seattle Mariners have Major League Baseball, MLB,
the Seattle Supersonics of the NBA and the Seattle Sounders
of the North American Soccer League all called the Kingdom Home.
Nicknamed the mushroom, the kingdom was completed in 1976
for $67 million during the 1990s.
The ownership groups of the Seahawks and Mariners began to dispute
the kingdom's appropriateness as a site for each club, threatening to depart
unless new publicly supported stadiums were erected.
Even the fans complained that the concrete stadium
was too tiny for football and too small for basketball.
On Tuesday, March 26. 2000.
The kingdom was demolished in a controlled implosion to make way for a new stadium.
Presently known as CenturyLink Field,
as a succession of bombs shattered the mammoth concrete edifice
into a heap of debris and dust
Tens of thousands of people cheered from office towers and hillsides
around the city.
In less than 20 seconds.
The 25,000 ton roof fell into a towering dust cloud
The landmark tower Fort Worth, Texas,
between 1957 and 1974.
The Landmark Tower was the tallest building in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was a 30 storey skyscraper.
The building, designed by Preston M.
Garren and Associates, had a 40 foot tall, 12 meter
spinning clock and sign on the roof when it first opened.
It was the world's largest spinning clock and sign at the time,
costing $196,000 and weighing 77 tons.
This 30 storey tower was the home of the Continental National Bank.
As a result, on two sides of the clock, the initials CNBC,
Continental National Bank were written in Green Neon while
the time was shown in white floodlights on the other two sides.
First of all, the iconic clock quit revolving in 1978
before it stopped keeping time in 1991.
The building was abandoned in 1990 and stood vacant for the next 16 years.
The structure was severely damaged by the tornado that struck on March 28th.
2000 for safety reasons.
The clock was taken down by the city of Fort Worth from April 15th
to April 21st 2000 before it was eventually destroyed.
The Landmark Tower had various owners over the years.
Plans were once in place to turn the edifice into 140 premium flats
and 35 condominiums however, this project went bankrupt
and the building was purchased by XTO Energy in January 2004.
Upon purchase, the corporation looked into all of the alternatives
for restoring re cladding and constructing around the structure,
but ultimately decided that tearing it down was the best choice.
The decision was taken after XTO Energy realized that the anticipated
$62 million costs of refurbishing it were excessive.
It was agreed that the tower would be taken down
and the land utilized for parking and maybe a new structure in the future.
Demolition permits were discreetly obtained in October 2005,
and the structure was demolished on March 18th, 2006.
At 7:40 a.m.
the structure was demolished by a controlled explosive implosion.
The demolition of the once iconic landmark tower necessitated the evacuation
of 15 city blocks and required £364, 165 kilograms of explosives
the AFI Frankfurt skyscraper.
For nearly four decades, the 116 meter AFC Tower stood on the Buckingham
campus of Frankfurt's Johann Wolfgang Go to university.
It was the tallest building in Frankfurt during the first three years
of its existence from 1972 to 1975.
Later on it became the 21st tallest building in Frankfurt,
and it remained so till it was imploded.
The abbreviation Afv
stood for the German term for the Department of Education Science.
But that department did not occupy the building as it ceased to be a department
in the university.
Instead, the tower housed the Department of Social Sciences and Education
facilities.
Thousands gathered to witness the demolition of the 116 meter,
380 foot tower.
It was indeed a spectacular view.
Almost one ton of explosives inserted into 1500 drilled holes
was used to bring down the building before the explosion.
A 250 meter, 273 yard exclusion zone was established around the tower
and people were prohibited from visiting the neighboring streets from midnight
to prevent too much dust from being created.
1000 liters, 264 gallons of water canisters were blown up alongside
the structure.
The whole area was closed off with 500 security personnel on hand.
The demolition took just about 10 seconds.
The JL Hudson Department store with just the push of a button.
And in less than 10 seconds, the flagship store of Detroit's most iconic retailer
imploded into a £660 million mass of brick, concrete and steel.
The JL Hudson Department store was a symbol of Christmas
and fashion as it was for Detroit its unbelievable height earned it.
The nickname The Big Store.
The structure was 2 million, 124,316
square feet, second only to Macy's in New York.
In terms of size among department stores, Hudson's department store had 32 stories
and was the world's tallest department store at 410 feet
Hudson's had over 200 departments spread out over 49 acres of floor area
with about 600,000 goods from 16,000 suppliers.
The department store had over 12,000 employees and attracted around
100,000 customers on a good business day.
As a result of the population of the Detroit area, sales
began to diminish and the store was closed down on January 17th.
1983.
Although the company's corporate offices
remained in the big store and about 1200 people still worked there
eventually in 1990 the building was sold to a Windsor company.
Eventually, despite various proposals to rebuild the massive edifice,
a decision was made to demolish it controlled Demolition
Inc was awarded the demolition job and they came up with an implosion design.
The CDI loading crew of 12 people spent 24 days installing 4118
individual charges at 1100 different spots in the complex's nine floors.
There were almost 36,000 feet of detonating cable placed
and 4512 non electric delay components.
When the dust settled, all that was left of the iconic Detroit
department store was a rubble mound averaging 35 feet tall
and rising as high as 60 feet tall, where the mighty edifice once stood.
The Dunes Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.
The controlled demolition of the famous Dunes Hotel was indeed
a spectacle from May 23rd 1955 until January 26th, 1993.
The Dunes Hotel was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip in Paradise, Nevada.
After a spell of financial woes, the dunes were sold for $75 million
to Steve Wynn's firm Mirage Resorts, Inc., on November 17th 1992.
Following the purchase of the tower, Wynn began the renovation process
by demolishing the 32 year old structure.
The 38 year old Dunes Tower was reduced to dust and rubble on October 27th, 1993
in a magnificent celebration that included massive fireworks displays
and multiple cannon explosions from Treasure Island Hotel
in Casino's English ship HMS Britannia.
It was an amazing sight.
The demolition
demonstrated casino mogul Steve Wynn's ability to captivate the populace
by making even a casino's destruction a cause for celebration.
An audience of 200,000 people celebrated a fireworks spectacular
put on by the globally acclaimed fireworks by Grucci
that lit up the strip with bright green, red, white and gold bursts.
According to Nevada State Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Harney,
the 24 storey edifice lingered in midair for a brief while before collapsing.
To the delight of the onlookers, a massive cloud, a volcano like smoke
and ash engulfed Bally's Casino across the street as a result of the explosions.
Bow Valley Medical Center,
previously known as the Calgary General Hospital,
the Bow Valley Medical Center became the oldest hospital
located in the city of Calgary at the time of its demolition in 1998.
The uproar was swift and strong when Ralph Kline started in the mid 1990s
that the Bow Valley Center would be closed as a cost cutting measure.
Residents of central Calgary were concerned about the additional time
it would take to reach a hospital.
In the case of an emergency, some others were more concerned
that such a building was going to waste when it could serve as a historic site.
Hospital employees were concerned about job losses, while doctors projected
that the city would face a health care crisis if the hospital closed, one
would think that the uproar would force the government to rescind its decision,
but it didn't.
Despite these reservations, the facility was closed and demolished on October 4th.
1998.
It was one of the most stunning implosions in Calgary history, drawing
hundreds of viewers to sites situated well back from the hospital.
The crowd caused a 20 minute delay in the demolition, as did numerous hot
air balloons that surged into the sky over the center, the Texas stadium.
God's people, as it was fondly called, the Texas Stadium, was turned to rubble
in a matter of seconds.
For over four decades, the best players in the game, as well as the fans,
brought the stadium down with their game playing loud cheers
however, on April 11, the 2010 and 11 year old child who had won
an essay contest was allowed to be the one to blow up the structure
with the click of a button and around £3,000 of dynamite.
The Cowboys played 38 seasons in Texas Stadium, winning
five Super Bowls during that time.
It was a historic stadium.
As a result there were no surprises when thousands of people paid
to see the structure as it was for the last time.
When Casey Rodgers pressed the button, white light flashed across the stadium
and there was a rumble sounding like drumming.
The earth trembled and a cloud of smoke rose as the structure collapsed in seconds.
And that wraps
up our list of the biggest controlled building explosions in the world.
Let us know what you think.
What are your thoughts on controlled demolitions?
Do you think there are better ways to demolish a building than blowing it up?
Let us know in the comments section.
See you next time.