15 Structure Demolitions GONE WRONG

old structures and buildings are sometimes demolished to make way for new construction projects out with the old and in with the new but sometimes these demolitions go wrong sometimes they mess up here are the top 15 structured demolitions gone [Music] number 15 ohio edison mad river power plant first opened in 1927 the mad river power plant in springfield ohio has a 20 megawatt steam turbine that was driven by the burning of coal and after subsequent upgrades was responsible for providing at least a third of the town's power needs following concerns about the pollution it emitted however the plan was finally closed in 1981 but it wouldn't be until 2010 that demolition experts moved in to remove the building so the land could be rebuilt upon the main structure that had to be dealt with was the chimney stack and after extensive surveys the explosions were carefully placed and detonated but there had been an oversight they failed to adequately cut the rebar on the rear of the stack used more explosives than normal and had used delayed detonators this combined to create instability in the way it collapsed and it was so in control that it fell in completely the opposite direction that had been intended with workers having no choice but to watch events unfold rubble destroyed two active turbines and two 12 and a half thousand volt power lines which left more than 4 000 homes without power for several hours and caused an estimated 19 million dollars worth of damage in the years following there were protracted lawsuits to determine who exactly was at fault but the power company laying all the blame on the demolition company that they had hired for the project number 14 the pontiac silver dome one of the most recognizable structures in pontiac michigan the silver dome was an 83 000 cedar stadium that first opened in 1975 and was for 25 years the largest capacity venue in the nfl home to the detroit lions it was used for a number of other events such as the nba the fifa world cup and wrestlemania 3 but when the ford field opened in detroit the silver dome was left without purpose after lying empty for eight years before being sold to new owners attempts were made to revitalize the stadium but by 2017 the decision had been made to demolish it so the 199 acre site could be reused for something else plan was to bring down the structure in several stages during the first stage explosives were set to implode the upper section in december of 2017 the time had come to carry out the controlled procedure but things didn't go entirely to plan the explosives detonated and there were a few puffs of smoke but the upper section remained in place according to the demolition company a tenth of the explosives had for some reason failed to go off and while they were sure that it would eventually collapse they weren't able to say exactly when that would happen to control this risk they returned the following day to finish the job and it took a further few months to tear down the rest of the structure in 2019 it was announced that amazon would begin building a warehouse on the site and the silver dome became little more than a distant memory number 13 australian beer silo let's be honest australia isn't exactly short of buildings that are used in the production of beer but it seemed as if a demolition crew had been sampling the product in 2010 when they attempted to bring down a structure to the west of brisbane the silo had been standing for 50 years and was used to store malt for the nearby brewery due to changing needs of the land however the decision had been made to clear it so it could be returned to the landlord which was the local train authority to construct a new transport link to the city more than 220 pounds of explosives had been packed inside the building but after initially appearing to be well on its way to collapsing it settled in place at an angle according to the manager of the demolition company there's always a risk that something like this can happen and there's a fine line between using too much or not enough explosives and on this occasion they didn't quite use enough to finish the job locals were unsure what would happen at the newly formed leaning tower but the demolition experts had a backup plan it stood like this for just 40 minutes while workers removed more of the structural supports then in the end all it took was a nudge from an excavator to push it over all that was left was the massive job of removing the 4 400 tons of rubble before new construction works could begin number 12 st petersburg sports and concert complex the saint petersburg sports and concert complex was opened in 1980 and became a focal point for entertainment in the region hosting everything from tennis and bowling competitions to concerts by some of the world's most famous artists as with everything though it reached the end of its useful lifespan and it was scheduled for demolition early 2020 so the world's largest ice arena could be built in its place demolishing structures like this isn't simply a case of attaching explosives and detonating and require extensive surveys to understand where the weight is being supported precision cuts are made to ensure they will collapse in a safe and effective way something tragically went wrong during that process on this occasion while workers were removing the connections between the stadium's wall and roof it suddenly collapsed with no warning of what was about to happen workers were still inside and on top of the building and unfortunately not all were able to escape one person died during this tragic event and several others were injured it's a tough example of how difficult it is to safely demolish buildings and why it's such a highly regulated industry in most places around the world turkish flower factory one of the difficulties with demolishing buildings is that you can't be entirely sure how tough a structure is until you try to knock it down and if you make a miscalculation it can lead to devastating consequences possibly the best example of this to be caught on camera took place in turkey in 2009 when workers were attempting to clear a disused factory so a new shopping center could be put in its place built in 1928 the 82 foot tall building was once a flower factory and was at the center of the local economy it had long gone out of business though and because it was so old there weren't any records that detailed exactly how it had been built demolition experts made the best guess they could about how to proceed and once they were ready they detonated the explosives instead of falling neatly to the ground as had been expected one side of the building collapsed at a faster rate and it began to lean over to everyone's surprise not only did it fall down on one side but it retained enough momentum that it kept rolling and actually flipped over onto its roof with most of the building remaining intact it landed frighteningly close to a nearby residential apartment and it was only the presence of a strong wall that prevented it from causing significant damage number 10 crimean residential building sevastopol is the largest city of the crimean peninsula and is an important economic and strategic port on the black sea for a long time it was part of ukraine but came under the jurisdiction of russia in 2014 when troops annexed the peninsula and authorities immediately began planning the redevelopment of the area one of their main targets was that they perceived to be illegally built residential buildings both because of safety risks associated with them and the need for the land to build industrial facilities so the end of 2014 saw a number of buildings being demolished while most projects went without any problems there was one that didn't entirely go to plan the 10-story building was packed full of explosives and smoke billowed out of the structure when they were detonated it began to fall but the charges hadn't done as much damage as they should have so instead of collapsing to the ground it stayed standing albeit at a precarious angle according to locals workers had purposefully used fewer explosives than they normally would have done to prevent any damage occurring to nearby buildings this was the reason why the structure didn't fully fall and while the strange leaning block became a famous site in the city for a while the job was finally completed a few weeks later number nine dalhousie generating station after opening in 1969 the dalhousie generating station was a coal and oil fire power station that could generate up to 315 megawatts of energy for local communities in new brunswick canada it remained in operation until 2012 when despite protests from locals for fear of loss of jobs the decision was made that it was no longer economical to run assessments took place to determine how best to clear the area for reuse and in 2015 the time had come to demolish the building and its smokestack with crowds gathering to see the demise of the iconic landmark for themselves the loud explosions echoed out around the area part of the main structure began to fall and a plume of smoke billowed out from the stack but this wasn't exactly the destructive event that everyone had expected the plan was for it to fall straight down but instead only the front side of the building was taken out in the blast and the smoke stack only dropped by 16 feet as the intact upper section of the stack was so heavy it firmly landed in place and was surprisingly structurally sound despite what had happened a completely new survey was required to understand exactly what had gone wrong and what needed to be done and the second attempt took place within a month which successfully finished the job we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number eight danish silo in april of 2018 hundreds of people gathered near the shore of a harbor in voting board denmark to see the skyline change for good a silo that had stood tall for as long as anyone could remember was scheduled for demolition it was one of the latest stages of a project to revitalize the old fairy town demolition experts had placed explosives at critical sites around the base of the silo and after a final check to make sure everything had been set up right they were ready to pull the trigger a large wedge had been cut from the structure to control the direction it fell and as the charges were detonated plumes of dust shot out around it there were cheers of excitement from onlookers these soon turned to gasps when instead of falling in the plain direction the silo went in the opposite way this unfortunately meant that the debris from the falling 173-foot tower showered down over the neighboring cultural center which contains a library and a music school firefighters had to work through the night to help secure the structural integrity of the building and while they were fortunately able to save it a significant amount of damage had already been caused the front wall had been knocked through and the interior was completely covered in dust it's just lucky that no one was there at the time number seven the leaning tower of dallas not all parts of a building are constructed equally and that's what led to bizarre scenes in dallas texas in 2020 when the attempted demolition of 11-story office building resulted in the accidental creation of a temporary landmark known as the leading tower of dallas city officials had secured funding for a new two and a half billion dollar development that includes residential properties workspaces and entertainment venues and the only thing standing in its way was the old office tower it was an exciting moment and people came from all across the city to see it collapse to the ground but while things appeared to be going to plan something unexpected happened the first explosives detonated around the building smoke can be seen coming out of the windows before the larger charges bring it tumbling down to the ground what the demolition team hadn't taken into account however was that the elevator shaft was built from far stronger materials than the rest do to accommodate the mechanism and didn't crumble like the building around it once the dust had settled the shaft had fallen several feet and was leaning to one side and was too precarious for workers to get close enough to finish it off over the following days there was a petition to leave the leaning tower standing as a new tourist attraction but it was finally destroyed by a wrecking ball so that the new construction project could begin number six liverpool apartments due to the need to provide quick and cheap accommodation to people in the decades following the second world war most british cities have large residential blocks that are now seen as unsightly and are being removed in favor of new structures with improved designs while they may look like a blight on the skylines they were certainly built to last and this can cause problems when it's time for them to be demolished in 2016 two towers in liverpool were scheduled for destruction but they put on far more of a fight than most known as churchill house and montgomery house on the first day the explosives were detonated around their foundations but neither of the 14 story buildings moved at all the next day they tried again and on this occasion churchill house collapsed as expected but again montgomery house remained standing tall it was only on the third attempt that they had more success but even then all that happened was around a quarter of the tower fell cables that had to be tied around it to pull the supports from beneath it and cranes were used to break it floor by floor so it would fall and finally the project was completed much later than it was originally planned number five zip feed mill tower the zip feed mill tower was between 1957 and 2005 the tallest structure that people could go inside in the whole of south dakota but due to plans to use the land to build new residential and office buildings plans were made to demolish the former feed mill in sioux falls at a height of 202 feet however it was an incredibly heavy structure something that the demolition team failed to adequately take into account in their preparations they had cut through the reinforcing bars of the building and placed explosives around the base and some of the vertical columns but when they were detonated all that happened was they successfully destroyed the base instead of triggering an entire collapse the rest of the building fell down on top of the basement and supported itself while leaning to one side there had simply been nowhere near enough explosives to break the vertical integrity of the structure and instead of getting another attempt the unpredictable danger of the way the structure had supported itself meant that the demolition crew had to take it down layer by layer with crane and a wrecking ball number four miami condos great care is taken to make sure that when demolishing a building it'll only start to collapse once the area is cleared and most importantly everyone has had a chance to get to safety but sometimes things can take place before anyone expects them to and that can result in deadly consequences in 2018 workers were preparing a condo in miami for destruction but it was already far weaker than surveyors had realized they were in the process of placing explosives around marlborough house and suddenly the building collapsed of its own accord witnesses say they didn't hear any explosions and that the only sound was that of crumbling concrete footage shows not everyone was clear when it happened luckily the residents had been evacuated well ahead of time and only one worker was injured but it could have been so much worse investigations into the incident found that it was the process of cutting through the support beams of the building that had caused the problem this is the standard procedure and demolitions and it's a requirement to make sure they fall down in a controlled manner but it turned out that they were all that were keeping this condo standing in the first place so once they were gone there was only one thing that was going to happen number three chinese residential building every building is built in a slightly different way and this process makes demolitions all the more difficult there isn't one set process of how to effectively raise a building and a carefully considered plan of action has to be created before anything can begin in december of 2009 everything was set to bring down a 22-story residential building in luzow china and from the moment you see what the structure looks like you can tell that it was no ordinary demolition because of the way the building had been designed the only safe way to flatten it was to arrange explosives around the foundations in a way that was split in two which would both fall independently of one another there was though a major miscalculation and nowhere near enough explosives were used once they were detonated one half of the building falls onto its side on the ground but the other simply dropped a few feet appeared as if it was about to fall over but remain standing at a precarious slant in this state it would have been far too dangerous for workers to enter to place further explosives so to finish the job workers spent the next week disassembling it with a crane number two the anglesey power station the anglesey power station was a coal burning power plant in victoria australia that was first opened in 1969 to burn the fuel that had been dug out of the nearby mine its role was to provide power to an aluminum smelter but once that facility closed in 2014 there was little need for the power station along with increasing concerns about the pollution that was being emitted from it anglesey was closed later that year work was soon underway to remove critical elements from the structure and the outer shell that remained was ready to be demolished in 2018. only the building was scheduled to be brought down with the chimney plan to be dealt with at a future date but even this limited scope was beyond the demolition company's capabilities the charges detonated amidst the cloud of thick black smoke the bunkers and the conveyor fell to the ground but the rest remained firmly standing this was far from ideal for the holding company not just because it meant further attempts would have to be made to destroy the building but also because rumors started spreading that there was likely asbestos in the structure at the time of the partial collapse a material that could well been spread to the surrounding area after an in-depth investigation the power company was told that it should have brought in specialized experts with experience demolishing a building like this and they were lucky it hadn't led to more serious complications number one toxic smokestack the last thing anyone wants to hear is that their neighborhood has been coated in potentially toxic fumes and debris but that's exactly what residents of little village in chicago were faced with in 2020 the crawford coal-fired power plant had been in operation for 96 years but was closed in 2012 after sustained pressure from the local community who are concerned about its environmental impact little would they know that their actions would prove their concerns to be true in the worst possible way in mid-april of 2020 the smokestack had been surrounded by explosives and with people watching from around the city it fell to the ground just had been planned what hadn't been accounted for however was the huge amount of dust and debris that was thrown up into the air at first you could hardly see your hand in front of your face in little village people started noticing the fine particles that were suspended in the air this would have been worrying enough during normal times but with the compounded concerns of the covet 19 respiratory illness and tests showing that the particles could have contained asbestos and countless other chemicals that had accrued over the years people were understandably worried once things had settled there was a thin layer of debris across the entire neighborhood and the cleanup operation could commence the company behind the demolition was left to answer a number of questions though most importantly why they didn't ensure the dust cloud was minimized or warned locals there would have been so much of it and why was it even necessary to carry out the work in the middle of a pandemic subscribe to top fives for more and check out some of our other popular videos [Music] you

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Keywords: Structure Demolitions GONE WRONG, demolition

Id: AvVg6Vi8NZ8

Length: 18min 46sec (1126 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 21 2020