The years between 1880 and 1920 changed American cities completely: From elevators to air conditioning to electricity, the monumental buildings born during this period seemed like living things, humming with life. But as quickly as they rose, many of them were torn down—victims of the same progress that pushed them up.
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Most of us think of Germany as one of the most energy-progressive countries in the world. But in recent years, it’s also increased its dependence on a form of energy that’s anything but clean: coal. And it’s demolishing or relocating entire towns to get at it.
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It took more than 2,000 pounds of explosives to bring down this 32-story tower in Frankfurt yesterday—roughly the same amount as a Mark 84 bomb. Thankfully, since we live in the age of YouTube, there are plenty of astounding videos of the demo.
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It’s been almost a month now since the brand new eastern span of the Bay Bridge officially opened for traffic—24 years and nearly $6.4 billion since 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed a section of the original. Now they stand side-by-side, but not for (too) long; a “construction and demolition” plan is underway to completely raze and clear away the old, seismically out-of-date structure, while concurrently building a new onramp from Yerba Buena Island and completing the bike path from there to Oakland.
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Look, we all know how it is. You’re at work, but your mind is somewhere else. It happens. You can’t be too hard on yourself. Ideally your lack of attention wouldn’t result in the wrongful demolition of two houses, but you’re only human, right?
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Out with the old, in with the new. Earlier this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Florida Power & Light Co. demolished one of its power plants with 450 pounds of dynamite to make way for a cleaner and more eco-friendly plant that’s slated to open in 2016. The Port Everglades plant had been in operation since the ’60s.
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Imagine if we had robots that could not only tear a building down, but also recycle it. Large building projects would go much faster and they would likely be cheaper and safer too. This new concept in robotics may just improve the efficiency of building demolition and recycling. It comes from Swedish student designer Omer Haciomeroglu who says that ERO is a smart recycling robot like Wall-E.
He states that ERO would “efficiently disassemble concrete structures without any waste, dust or separation and enable reclaimed building materials to be reused for new prefabricated concrete buildings.” In other words it could be a dream come true for the construction sector.
It uses high-powered water jets to crack the concrete. The cement and water is then sucked up and separated. The water is recycled back into the system, while clean aggregate is packed and sent to concrete precast stations for reuse. The rebar can then be cleaned and cut on the spot for reuse as well.
A fleet of ERO robots working together would be able to scan the area and plan their demolition/recycling. The robots could “literally erase a building”. It is a great idea, and I hope it sees action one day.
Demolishing a building is a big, messy pain in the neck. Dynamite is loud and dangerous. Wrecking balls are heavy and dangerous. Why not just get a robot to do the work?
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We tend to think of demolition as destructive: dynamite, dust, and plenty of fireworks. But as a New York Times article recently described, demolition in dense cities is, more and more often, a "stealth" operation, where a building is dismantled over a number of weeks.
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When buildings grow past their prime, they usually reach their demolition fate—a cobbled, dusty mess—through dynamite explosion. It’s a crashing spectacle of destruction. Loud, angry and ruthless. But maybe it doesn’t have to be like that. Maybe it can be subtle, quite and peaceful. Maybe it can be a strategic floor-by-floor demoltion like the skyscraper in the video above. More »
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