Tell someone you work in demolition and they’re going to immediately picture stacks of TNT and fuses, amounting to big explosions and toppling buildings. This cartoonish picture isn’t all too accurate, however: demolition is extremely precise, calculated and planned. In fact, most run of the mill demolition projects don’t even use explosives!
Take a look at the various types of demolition in Kansas City and how they differ from each other, to learn a little bit more about what goes on behind the scenes when it’s time to clear the path for new development.
Manual demolition
Manual demolition is probably the most common form of demolition and it’s what you’ll frequently see happening in cities, where space is limited. You can’t exactly blast a building to rubble when there’s another building right next to it, so you have to literally tear it down!
Manual demolition is a process that happens one section at a time, with emphasis at razing a building as fast as the rubble can be dealt with. Load-bearing parts of the building are targeted and undermined in a way that causes them to collapse inward on themselves, bringing down strategically pinpointed sections quickly. In many cases, excavators and cranes are used to attack a building’s sections.
Manual demolition is a carefully targeted approach to tearing a structure down and because of its step-by-step nature, it’s often relied upon as a more controlled form of demolition.
Implosive demolition
This is the type of demolition in Kansas City that most people associate with the word! Implosive demolition is the act of using strategically placed charges to literally implode a building. Implosion happens in seconds and can level a building far quicker than any other type of demolition.
The problem with implosive demolition is the slim margin of error associated with it. A wrongly placed charge or a snag in the operation can result in major issues when the time comes to press the button. Moreover, if any part of the implosion becomes uncontrolled, it can result in flying debris or collateral damage.
Generally, implosive demolition is used to level larger structures that aren’t surrounded by other buildings. Old stadiums, theatres, casinos, industrial plants and more are usually the prospects for implosion.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is the new-age form of demolition and it’s one that’s very thorough. Deconstruction is approached very much in the same way as manual demolition—where a building is literally torn down—however it’s done so with the materials in mind.
Deconstruction is about ending a building in an environmentally responsible way, where the materials can be recycled and ecological impacts are minimized. In fact, deconstruction can actually mitigate up to 90 percent of materials being sent to landfills—instead, these materials are recycled or reused.
Demolition in Kansas City is a process that’s so much more than an implosion or complete teardown of a building—it’s a process that’s expertly approached with strategic goals in mind. The next time you see a building set for demolition, try and see if you can guess what type of demolition is about to take place!