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Controlled Demolition, Inc.

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Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) is a controlled demolition firm headquartered in Phoenix, Maryland. The firm was founded by Jack Loizeaux who used dynamite to remove tree stumps in the Baltimore, Maryland area, and moved on to using explosives to take down chimneys, overpasses and small buildings in the 1940s.[1] The company has demolished several notable buildings by implosion, including the Gettysburg National Tower, the Seattle Kingdome, and the uncollapsed portion of the Champlain Towers South condominium.

Records

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The firm has claimed world records for a series of 1998 projects: The June 23 demolition of the 1,201-foot-high Omega Radio Tower in Trelew, Argentina, "the tallest manmade structure ever felled with explosives"; The August 16 implosion of the 17-building Villa Panamericana and Las Orquideas public housing complex in San Juan, Puerto Rico, "the most buildings shot in a single implosion sequence"; and the October 24 project at the J. L. Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan, which at 439 feet (134 m) in height became "the tallest building & the tallest structural steel building ever imploded" and its 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m2) making it "the largest single building ever imploded".[2][3]

Selected projects

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Old Sunshine Skyway Bridge

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Demolition of steel and concrete girders of the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge, 1990

In 1990, the FDOT awarded a bid to Hardaway Company (owner of Controlled Demolition, Inc.) to demolish all steel and concrete sections of the old Sunshine Skyway spans.[4] The scope of the project required that all underwater piles and piers, and surface roadway, girders, and beams, be dismantled. Special care had to be taken in removing underwater bridge elements near the channel, and the central portion of the original bridge had to be removed in one piece to minimize closure of the only approach to the busy Port of Tampa.[5] Most of the concrete material was used to create an artificial reef near the southbound approach of the old bridge, which was converted into a long pier for newly created Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. Unused approaches to the original spans were demolished in 2008.

Alfred P. Murrah Building, Oklahoma City

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On May 23, 1995, the firm was responsible for the demolition of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building after its bombing on April 19, 1995.[6]

The Seattle Kingdome

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Implosion of the Kingdome, 2000

On March 26, 2000, the firm used 4,450 pounds of dynamite placed in 5,905 carefully sited holes and 21.6 miles (34.8 km) of detonation cord inserted over a period of four months to take down the 25,000-ton concrete roof of the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington in 16.8 seconds, one day before the 24th birthday of the stadium that had been the home of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. The total cost for the demolition project was $9 million.[7] The firm planned the collapse of the roof to prevent its simultaneous free fall, creating a delay pattern that would break the roof into pieces and setting up 15-foot-high earth berms on the floor of the stadium to absorb the impact of the falling concrete. The demolition of the Kingdome established the record for the largest structure, by volume, ever demolished with explosives. The implosion of the 125,000-ton concrete structure did not cause a single crack in the foundation of the new stadium being built 90 feet (27 m) away.[8]

Gettysburg National Tower

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CDI demolished the Gettysburg National Tower on July 3, 2000, which was the 137th anniversary of the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The demolition was done for free for the National Park Service. The tower was felled by 12 pounds (5.4 kg) of explosives in front of a crowd of 10,000.[9]

World Trade Center Site

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On September 22, 2001, eleven days after the 9/11 attacks, a preliminary cleanup plan for the World Trade Center site was delivered by Controlled Demolition, Inc. in which Mark Loizeaux, president of CDI, emphasized the importance of protecting the slurry wall (or "the bathtub") which kept the Hudson River from flooding the WTC's basement.[10][11]

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40

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The tower was disassembled during late 2007 and early 2008. Demolition of the Mobile Service Structure (MSS), by means of a controlled explosion, occurred on 2008-04-27.[12] National Geographic Channel: Man Made: Rocket Tower has a full episode on the demolition [13][14]

Martin Tower

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Martin Tower, the 21-story world headquarters building of defunct Bethlehem Steel and the tallest building in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was imploded by Controlled Demolition on May 19, 2019, at a reported cost of $575,000.[15]

Champlain Towers South

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The company was contracted to demolish the remaining portion of the 12-story condominium building near Miami Beach, Florida, after it partially collapsed on June 24, 2021; the work was expedited due to the potential threat of Hurricane Elsa.[16] The demolition occurred on July 4, 2021,[17] after only a day of preparation, including placement of explosives; city officials had feared that the demolition could take weeks.[18] As the still-standing structure was unstable, it was considered unsafe to enter and CDI had originally estimated that the demolition could not occur until the following day, since the work had to be done carefully and slowly to avoid a premature collapse. This risk of collapse and its risk to rescuers warranted the controlled demolition, which was directed away from the original collapse footprint.[19]

Other projects

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References

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  1. ^ "Jack Loizeaux; Pioneer in Razing Buildings by Implosion". Los Angeles Times. December 7, 2000.
  2. ^ Satchell, Michael. "Bringing down the house", U.S. News & World Report. Accessed September 17, 2008.
  3. ^ World Records, Controlled Demolition, Inc. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  4. ^ "Sunshine Skyway Bridge". Controlled Demolition, Inc. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. ^ Meinheardt, Jane (September 8, 1991). "Demolition day nears for old Skyway". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  6. ^ "Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building | Controlled Demolition, Inc". www.controlled-demolition.com. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  7. ^ Jamieson Jr., Robert L. "Perfect demolition leaves Dome a fallen souffle", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 27, 2000. Accessed September 16, 2008. (dead link 21 June 2019)
  8. ^ Hile, Jennifer. "Imploding the Male Monopoly of Demolition Business", National Geographic Channel, June 15, 2004. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  9. ^ Latschar, John (2001). "The Taking of the Gettysburg Tower" (PDF). The George Wright Forum. 18 (1): 31–32.
  10. ^ Post, Nadine M. and Debra K. Rubin. "Debris Mountain Starts to Shrink." . [1], Engineering News Record, October 1, 2001. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  11. ^ "Cleaning Up the WTC Ruins". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-09-16 – via Associated Press.
  12. ^ Wired Science: "Launch Pad Demolition Clears Way for SpaceX Rockets",Wired, 1 May 2008
  13. ^ "National Geographic Channel: Man Made: Rocket Tower". Archived from the original on 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  14. ^ Spaceflight news with Video and history of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 "Controlled Explosion Demolishes Historic Titan Rocket Launch Tower". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
  15. ^ "Watch the implosion of a Pennsylvania skyscraper, a landmark of the steel industry's glory days". The Baltimore Sun. May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  16. ^ Martínez, Andrés R. (2021-07-04). "The company hired to take down the damaged Surfside building is known for the Seattle Kingdome implosion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  17. ^ Mann, Brian (July 4, 2021). "Crews Demolish Remaining Section Of Florida Condo As Storm Nears". NPR.
  18. ^ Neale, Rick; Hauck, Grace (July 2, 2021). "Engineers evaluate demolition options to prevent 'mess of immense proportion' in Surfside". USA Today. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  19. ^ Spencer, Terry; Calvin, Bobby Caina (3 July 2021). "Demolition preparations begin at condo with storm looming". Associated Press (published July 2, 2021). Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  20. ^ "Tropicana Las Vegas set for implosion, demo company says". 4 April 2024.
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