India with bated breath waited to witness the spectacle demolition, a first of its kind on such a large scale . The demolition was conducted by Edifice Engineering with its South African partner Jet Demolitions.
Here's a look at the explosives that were used
The demolition of the illegally constructed Apex and Ceyane had to be handled carefully, without destroying the surrounding buildings in Emerald Court and ATS Green.
The quantity of explosives used in destroying the tall buildings are reportedly the equivalent to three warheads of the Agni-V missile, or 12 of the BrahMos missile, or four Prithvi missiles.
The process used to demolish the Supertech Twin towers was a process called implosion. In a ‘Building implosion’ or the waterfall implosion method, controlled explosion is conducted with the aim at forcing a building to collapse into itself.
Explosives used
According to reports the explosives used includes
-Detonators like dynamites (straight, ammonia and gelatin)
-Emulsions
-PETN (penta-erythritol tetra- nitrate)
-Shock tubes
-RDX (Cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine)
-Explosive material in the form of gel or powder
The explosives were drilled into the building via 9,640 holes. The holes measured 2.634 millimetre.
The explosives are strong enough to break concrete in large quantities. Further, experts chose to use the implosion method and not the usual method of tearing down by breaking walls in order to minimize damage tot he nearby buildings.
“These explosives are sold in a regulated manner and strictly after permission from various government agencies," an official said.
Process of explosive demolition
The explosives need to be ignited in order for the blasts to happen. Blasters — the people who carry out the blast — also need to make sure that the right quantity of explosives is being used.
To ignite the explosives, a shock is induced, a severe shock. To induce the severe shock, explosives are attached to a blasting cap. The blasting cap is a device that initiates the detonation of a “charge of a high explosive by subjecting it to percussion by a shock wave".
Now the blasters will light one end of the cord on this blasting cap to set off the explosives. This flame travels to the detonator on the other end and triggers the explosion. This process can also be done through an electronic wire with explosives at the detonator end.
Once the final checks are done, the trigger is pressed.
In case the implosion fails, authorities conduct the demolition manually. Although there have been instances where building implosions have failed, these are uncommon.
How powerful were the explosives
Reports have suggested that the explosives used were as powerful as the BrahMos Missile, the Prithvi Missile and the Agni-V Missile. A report have said that the explosives were exactly as powerful as ‘three warheads of the Agni-V missile, or 12 of the BrahMos missile, or four Prithvi missiles.’
