KOCHI: With the commencement of filling of explosives at Holy Faith H2O on Saturday, the pre-blasting works for the Maradu flats demolition have moved into the next phase. Explosives are being filled into holes of 32 mm diameter drilled at specific spots on the concrete structure. The filling of explosives and charging of detonators will be over by January 10.
Along with ammonium nitrate, each hole will have delayed detonators and shock tubes. All of them will be interconnected on January 10. Speaking to TNSE, Uttkarsh Mehta, partner, Edifice Engineering, said that the entire closed circuit will be connected to the triggering point. “As of now, the circuits between the explosives are not interconnected and they remain as individually units in each hole. The size of the holes will be changed according to the size of the pillars. The circuits will be a closed ones and all of them will be connected to the triggering point. As it will be a single-point blasting, electric power should reach all holes simultaneously. We will ensure that no hole is missed out when the circuit is charged for the final blast,” he said.
Along with the hole-to-hole connection, all columns will be interconnected separately using detonators.
“The demolition of each floor will be at intervals of six seconds. Though we will not be able to see it, the fall will happen accordingly. Once the ignition starts at one end, the entire structure will be fired down within seconds. Besides, we will be spraying water from three fire tenders before starting the implosion and will continue till the end,” he added. On Saturday, the filling that started at 6 am lasted till 6 in the evening.
The process is being handled by a team of 12 experts of Edifice Engineering and its parent company Jet Demolitions. Besides, 40 individuals are helping them in the process. Two of the filling experts are from the United Kingdom. Five blasters and shot firers are from South Africa and the remaining five are Indian nationals.
“The filling of explosives at Holy Faith H2O will get over by Sunday. Thereafter the experts will go to Jain Coral Cove followed by Golden Kayaloram. On January 10, we will complete the connections and checking of explosives,” said a representative of Edifice Engineering.
Demolition schedule
Holy Faith H2O
Filling of explosives: Jan 3, 4
Quantity of explosives required: 215 kg
Total holes: 1,540 holes
Explosion floors: 1, 3 , 5, 11, 16
Schedule of final demolition: January 11, 11am
Jains Coral Cove
Filling of explosives: Jan 5, 6, 7, 8
Quantity of explosives required: 170 kg
Total holes: 2,860
Explosion floors: 1, 2, 8, 14
Schedule of final demolition: Jan 12, 11am
Alfa Serene
Filling of explosives: Jan 6, 7
Quantity of explosives required: 500 kg (250 each for twin towers)
Total holes: 3,500 holes
Explosion floors: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14
Schedule of final demolition: Jan 11, 11.30am
Golden Kayaloram
Filling of explosives: Jan 9, 10
Quantity of explosives required: 15 kg
Total holes: 960
Explosion floors: 1, 2, 8, 14
Schedule of final demolition: Jan 12, 2pm
Control room at municipality office
Apart from the blast initiation points within
100 metres of all five towers, a control room will be set up at Maradu municipality office to oversee the process. A representative from each department involved in the demolition will be present at the control room to act in case of emergencies.
IIT team inspects highrises
Kochi: As part of the plan to assess the surface impact of the controlled implosion of the Maradu highrises, an expert team from IIT Madras visited the five towers on Saturday. The team comprising civil engineering professor A Bhoominathan and senior project officer JS Dhanya inspected the nearby locations to install the equipment required to assess the vibrations.
“We have decided to install the equipment at 10 locations in the vicinity of the towers. The final decision will only be taken after assessing the structural strength of buildings in the neighbourhood and their mouldiness. We are planning to complete the process on January 10,” said Bhoominathan.The experts were accompanied by technical committee member Anil Joseph and structural engineer Reji Zackariah. Following the inspection, the team had a brief meeting with Fort Kochi Sub Collector Snehil Kumar Singh at Maradu municipality office. Seismographs to measure shock waves.
Seismographs will be placed at 10 different locations in the periphery of each building to assess the vibration at the time of blasting. Besides, an accelerometer will also be erected in the vicinity of the skyscrapers.