The Many Uses of Explosives
Demolition

Blasting in Your Neighborhood

The History of Explosives and Blasting

How Explosives Work

How Explosives Have Shaped Our World

The Many Uses of Explosives

What is an Explosives Engineer?

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Demolition
Demolition is utilized to take down old structures, making way for new structures. Demolition is sometimes performed using wrecking balls and bulldozers. However, the cheapest, safest and fastest way is by using explosives to implode the structure.

Explosives were first used in demolition after World War II by retired military engineers. It is now performed by a handful of blasters. It is a very specialized use of explosives and only a few companies are experienced to do this work.

Actually, only a small amount of explosives are used in explosives demolition. The charges are strategically placed around the building, often on metal support beams. The blaster can even control the direction that a building falls by where he places the explosives and in what order they are detonated. For example, if the first charges are detonated on beams in the front of the building, the building will fall forward. Likewise, if the charges are detonated first on beams in the middle of the building, the building will fold in, and fall on itself. This is called implosion. Picture a chair. If you take out the front legs, the chair will fall forward.

As with other specialized uses of explosives, the blaster is always concerned with safety. If there are buildings nearby, blasters will place material, such as heavy cloth over windows of the nearby buildings to protect them from debris. Blasters also use seismographs to monitor ground vibrations and air wave pressure caused by the implosion. Ground vibrations and air wave pressure limits are regulated by federal and state government agencies.


What Does a Blaster Implode?
Blasters implode skyscrapers, smoke stacks, bridges, silos, warehouses, water towers, hotels, housing projects, stadiums, and much more. There is almost no limit to what blasters can implode using explosives.

Seattle Kingdome