Host Brendan Moar dives into the process of what it takes to bring down some of the biggest structures from around the world.
All around the world there are buildings and structures in desperate need of demolition. In this series Brendan Moar, self-confessed demolition junkie in scours the globe in hunt of the biggest most dangerous and most spectacular demolitions he can find. His mission? To reveal the inner workings behind the art of demolition. To meet the experts and the machinery capable of levelling anything in their way.
Our Presenter, Australian architect, designer and demolition junkie Brendan Moar has been lucky to witness some incredible demolitions during his hunt around the world for the biggest and best.
Controlling the direction a building will collapse when it's being demolished is never an easy task, especially when the weapon of choice is dynamite. In the demolition business the bigger the structure the greater the radius of destruction. And they don't come much bigger than this job. Too big to take apart with machines, implosion was the only way to go.
In this episode, our Presenter, Australian architect, designer and demolition junkie Brendan Moar, heads to Manchester to see the demolition of a large, concrete bridge containing shops and cafes. Built in the 1970s to link the University of Manchester to a business school, this structure must be taken down to make place for a fantastic, new gateway designed by Peter Huxley, the University's architect. Destroying a bridge weighing 6000 tonnes and reinforced by 38 beams is no easy task. The team must work diligently to relieve the tension on the steel cables or these could snap, releasing tonnes of concrete into the air. To make matters harder, the bridge hovers over local businesses and stands across one of Europe's busiest commuter routes which means that the demolition team are under pressure to re-open the road as quickly as possible. The machine operators must keep focussed in order to safely detach the bridge's diaphragm beams from the buildings on either side without bringing the University walls down with it.
The team need to plan well and find a way of taking this reinforced bridge down quickly without destroying the road or the buildings around it and engulfing them in a cloud of toxic dust. The man behind the operation is Paul Johnson.Using his wealth of experience, Paul should have little problem directing the team and getting the job done in a safe and controlled manner.
