9/11 qin-shi-huangdi-fireball

Building implosion

In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings. Despite its terminology, building implosion also includes the controlled demolition of other structures, like bridges, smokestacks, towers, and tunnels. This is typically done to save time and money of what would otherwise be an extensive demolition process with construction equipment, as well as to reduce construction workers exposure to infrastructure that is in severe disrepair.

Building implosion, which reduces to seconds a process which could take months or years to achieve by other methods, typically occurs in urban areas[citation needed] and often involves large landmark structures.

The actual use of the term “implosion” to refer to the destruction of a building is a misnomer. This had been stated of the destruction of 1515 Tower in West Palm Beach, Florida. "What happens is, you use explosive materials in critical structural connections to allow gravity to bring it down.

The term “implosion” was coined by my grandmother back in, I guess, the '60s. It’s a more descriptive way to explain what we do than “explosion”. There are a series of small explosions, but the building itself isn’t erupting outward. It’s actually being pulled in on top of itself. What we’re really doing is removing specific support columns within the structure and then cajoling the building in one direction or another, or straight down.

  • Stacy Loizeaux, NOVA, December 1996

Building implosion techniques do not rely on the difference between internal and external pressure to collapse a structure. Instead, the goal is to induce a progressive collapse by weakening or removing critical supports; therefore, the building can no longer withstand gravity loads and will fail under its own weight

Numerous small explosives, strategically placed within the structure, are used to catalyze the collapse. Nitroglycerin, dynamite, or other explosives are used to shatter reinforced concrete supports. Linear shaped charges are used to sever steel supports. These explosives are progressively detonated on supports throughout the structure. Then, explosives on the lower floors initiate the controlled collapse.

A simple structure like a chimney can be prepared for demolition in less than a day. Larger or more complex structures can take up to six months of preparation to remove internal walls and wrap columns with fabric and fencing before firing the explosives.

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        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          It’s for sure harder, if I had to work the line on a regular basis I’d burn out pretty quick. Too repetitive. Running the pass and handling logistics and quality control etc however isn’t a bad time if you’re built for it, a lot of people would rather work the line but one of my favorite games is Papers Please and it’s essentially the same experience, being organized and thorough at a very very high pace.

          • AmericaDelendaEst [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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            2 months ago

            The organization is what scares me, as much as im a narcissistic v smart big brain shithead i also don’t want to think any more than I have to, at least in the sense of multi tasking (like i mean i like thinking about new and better ways to cook things). It already feels like it takes 101% of my available effort to manage my time doing this catering type stuff, i don’t like thinking about having to deal with a bunch of different individual dishes that all need to be done at different times

            I could definitely handle it if someone else is telling me what to cook and when though, I could just autopilot that shit. and no need for quality control cuz my shit’d be good 😌

            • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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              2 months ago

              A lot of dishes pass through multiple hands and some end out victims of circumstance. For instance, it’s gotten cold a night again recently and we’ve been making our dough like it’s summer and consequently our current set shrinks hard in the oven so I’d end out having to call redos because of that and remind people to compensate when I saw they were starting to get smaller, you do the same thing every day it becomes muscle memory and it was busy af so the weird detail of the day can slip from your mind, quality control is sometimes just keeping things standardized too. We have kids sized pizzas and somehow it’s nearly impossible for people to get the size consistent between all of them and also correct. It’s 9 inches in diameter, I’ve collected records forever so I can eyeball the diameter of a circle pretty easy, anyway that means if 2 different people make 2 different kids pizzas for the same order, there’s a decent chance they didn’t collaborate on the size and one will be bigger than the other, for little kids that’s gonna start a sibling fight and must be rectified. And I guarantee you would end out with some remakes, muscle memory vs random mods alone gets everyone at least once a week, sometimes you’re multitasking like 5 things and one burns, it happens. Remakes get called fairly often and it’s only sometimes someone’s fault and the severity of that fault can vary. Sometimes it’s super understandable and sometimes one of your co workers totally shit the bed, but if you’re slammed on a day you’re not feeling it, it happens. I’ll fuck up an order that doesn’t want some garnish or other myself probably once every couple weeks. My job is to also make that shit work, we lose a pizza and there’s one of the same type in the oven? I use that when it’s out and them use the remake for the next order or whatever. I also am the line of communication with front of house and they ring things in wrong sometimes as well, it’s an iPad, typos happen. I guess with the line you don’t need to think too mu h beyond the logistics of anything but one to 3 meals at a time or so but the next 3 are hot on the heels and you may be prepping for them at the same time, but if I’m running the show and know how slow or fast you are at whatever I’ll ca when to start on what so they come through at the same time order by order. My job is the macro and then usually I’ve got a co-pilot on the pizza line next to me who tells pasta when to fire off and shares apps and salads with me and the dishwasher. I’m not anyone’s boss and I think that helps cause if I am off base I get questioned and I am wrong sometimes and other times it’s all part of the plan but I get why you’re asking and though unconventional it’ll work out in the end for the best. Front and back of house both REALLY prefer me there and although the chef did try to move in on my turf, popular opinion made him back down and he runs the co pilot zone, which just makes more sense. It also isn’t frustrating as hell.cause everyone is really fucking good at their job here. Probably one of the main things I’ve been trying to get people to do is slow down a bit. We’re getting to the point where we’re a bit early on takeouts and the turn around for dine ins is too fast for servers to try to sell a second drink. It’s like being a conductor and also playing one of those one man band setups at the same time but doing any other station just bores the hell out of me and I get to watch someone do my job worse. I can work circles around anyone on the pizza line and therefore also wait longer to stsrt than others by a solid 5-10 minutes and the pasta corner is isolated and just command and response as hell. I’m a very social person and find my work day grinds by if I’m not talking to people and making choices and stuff.