Best demolition videos – Top five demolitions from around the world

We’ve seen a lot of demolitions in our time. This year so far, we’ve worked on over 30 projects ourselves at Hughes & Salvidge, so it’s safe to say there have been many more going on around the world.

Demolitions can be pretty spectacular to witness, so we thought we’d draw attention to some of the best demolition videos we’ve seen in the last few years, from the USA to Italy and everywhere in between.

5. A symmetrical blast at the Cane Run Generating Station

Located in the southwest corner of Jefferson County in Kentucky, the Louisville Gas and Electric Company saw an iconic chapter of their history close as the last standing portions of the Cane Run Generating Station were demolished on the 8^th June 2019.

Watch as the six large stacks and the boiler house fall in a wonderfully symmetrical pattern after the demolition implosion in this demolition video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLAyuqBgEEo&feature=youtu.be

4. Razing the roof of the Bradley Centre Stadium

Sports events are often said to raise the roof with the cheers of the crowd but, on the 13^th January 2019, the Bradley Centre in Milwaukee had its roof ‘razed’ instead. The 30-year-old building had been steadily deconstructed since summer 2018, but the roof required a controlled blast to bring it down.

The Bradley Centre was the former home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks. Take a look at the blast in both real-time and in slow motion in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8DDUS_ImA&feature=youtu.be

3. Time goes by at the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre in Nottingham

Not all demolitions require a big bang, as the demolition of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre demonstrates in this time-lapse demolition video.

The car park was demolished as part of the regeneration efforts around the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre complex and will be replaced with a new bus station and car park.

Demolition work started on the site in July 2018 but this video from February 2019 shows that at that point demolition work was almost completed, leaving the site clear for the new construction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7co-q1Hlek&feature=youtu.be

2. Former home of Pablo Escobar goes up in smoke

Back in February 2019, Pablo Escobar’s former home/fortress, the Monaco building, was demolished in the city of Medellin, Colombia, as a way to modernise and shake-off its reputation as the drug capital of the world.

A crowd of 1,600 people watched as the building, formally home not just to Pablo and his family, but also two swimming pools, a panic room, a vault and 34 parking spaces for his cars, crumbled to the ground after the implosion, which used 180 detonators and sent a cloud of dust rising tens of metres into the air.

The site is set to be replaced with a memorial to the victims of Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C19U4guWDq8&feature=youtu.be

1. Dramatic end for the Morandi Bridge in Genoa

The demolition of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa came about after the bridge partially demolished itself in a collapse in August 2018. The remainder of the bridge has stood above Genoa since, awaiting removal.

On 28^th June 2019, demolition and explosive engineers carried out a controlled blast to bring down the last two remaining sections of the structure, dropping around 4,500 tonnes of concrete and steel 45 metres to the ground. An extensive suppression system had to be installed and put into effect to contain the resulting dust from the demolition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6t2i2ZsxTs&feature=youtu.be

We hope you’ve enjoyed our countdown through the five best demolition videos we have seen. Each video shows a demolition from a different perspective and it’s been a lot of fun to go back and have a look at all the different international structures that have been making way for new development.

Take a look at the video we took of our recent bridge demolition in Fareham.