4 Ways to demolish a building

4 ways to Demolish a building

                                                                             

In the article “4 Ways to Demolish the Building”, by Rodriguez (2018), there are 4 considerations and methods on how to demolish a building.

4 considerations on how to demolish a building are: -

1)      Building location

2)      Building materials

3)      Purpose of the demolition

4)      How to dispose the debris

4 methods to demolish a building are: -

1)      Implosion

2)      High Reach Arm

3)      Wrecking ball

4)      Selective demolition

1)      Implosion

This method is using an explosion. It is to knock out a building’s vertical supports which causes the building to collapse onto itself from the inside out. They were often used to demolish huge structures in urban areas.

In order to demolish the building successfully, the crews need to analyse a complete set of structural blueprints, to identify the main components of the building, determine whether other areas need to be blasted, determine the type of explosives to use and where to position the explosives.

2)      High Reach Arm

This method is using machine fitted with a long demolition arm. It has about 66 feet high. It consists of 3 different tools such as crusher, shears or a hammer, its attached to the end of the arm which were used to break up the building from the top down. It removes large pieces of the structure and a special grounds crew breaks down the pieces and sorts of them for disposal.

It is used on reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, and mixed-material structures. High Reach arm method is safer than traditional wrecking ball demolition for removing tall buildings

3)      Wrecking Ball

This method is using a wrecking ball weighting up to 13,500 pounds. It is used for concrete and other masonry structures. The ball is either dropped onto or swung into the structure which simply crushes the building with repeated blows.

The demolition must be performed with highly skilled and experienced crane operators. It is limited by the crane’s size and the working room, including proximity to power line. It creates a great deal of dust, vibration, and noise.

4)      Selective Demolition

This method is to strip out, selective materials demolition. It allows builders to reuse or recycle the building’s materials such as wood, brick, metals, and concrete,

The aim of this demolition is to recover the maximum amount of primary(reusable) and secondary(recyclable) material in a safe and cost-effective procedure.

However, the process is labour-intensive and its difficult to achieve in a timely and economical manner for light-framed building.