Interesting way to knock it down. They didn't used explosives but put hydraulic cylinders on the 3th floor and pushed the walls away. [video]http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6f2_1353773670[/video]
Well, that is something I haven't seen before. Nice find Lee
Interesting indeed! I would have never guessed that it would have had that much precision on where it came down but it seems to have kept the thing relatively within its own foundation. Wounder where the hyd power pack was in relation to the building and how they staged the valving. Seems to me they would have had to use an operator close by to open valves one at a time. All and all i would shake the mans hand and buy him a beer for coming up with that idea and pulling it off. I will however have to deduct a couple of points for leaving that three story widow maker on the last wall but all said and done im impressed.
I'm wondering if and how they recovered the rams and all the hoses.
The more i look at it the more i think they were just a write off. There is no way they could have survived to fight another day.
I would assume the cylinders are expected to be junked. In the grand scheme it would be a minor cost. If one gets bent its junk and the last thing you would want is to reuse one and it fails to push when inside a partially collapsed building. I wonder it the pump and valving is outside with long hoses. I would also guess they use vegetable oil.
That is new to me. Would love to see the rams and more information on this contractor.
Explosives can't be used twice. In that line of work i don't think you worry to much about reusing certain "tools". That being said, we have some hoses on our vibro hammer that were designed to lift 10,000 lbs. They get run over by forklifts all the time. After two or three floors of rumble the load stats getting spread out. I think it's plausible certain types of hose could live thought it. I would also try putting the cylinders in steel housings maybe two pieces of square tube that could telescope. It's all just theory. The weight of building can change just about anything.
You can get some cheap tie-rod, or "agricultural," cylinders. Not too hard to get 6" or 8" bore with 24" or 36" stroke. At only 3000psi, that comes out to 42t-75t of force. And you don't need a lot of flow so -4 or -6 hose would be plenty. Put the pump 100ft away with individual valves. The hardest thing would be bleeding all the hose. And I like Lee's idea of using vegetable oil. ISZ
i know that its damn near impossible to get a permit to use explosives in San Fransisco. this might be a decent alternative.
Here's another film with the whole building, their internet address is there too. They use this system often, they have developed it yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiKjoLxylOg