Controlled Demolition

Removing structures can require nearly as much planning as building them

Engineering

Current Issue

This Article From Issue

May-June 2011

Volume 99, Number 3
Page 195

DOI: 10.1511/2011.90.195

Most large structures, such as tall buildings, massive sports stadiums and long-span bridges, eventually reach or exceed their useful life and so need to be removed, either before or after a replacement is available. In skyscraper cities like New York, where land can be scarcer than clean air, it is not uncommon for a perfectly serviceable structure of modest height to be demolished to make way for a taller one. With sports stadiums in the age of television, it is not necessarily so much the need for a larger capacity as for more amenities, such as luxury skyboxes, that can motivate the destruction of a once-hallowed venue.

AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews

To access the full article, please log in or subscribe.

American Scientist Comments and Discussion

To discuss our articles or comment on them, please share them and tag American Scientist on social media platforms. Here are links to our profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

If we re-share your post, we will moderate comments/discussion following our comments policy.