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Three individual and precisely controlled blasts were completed on Dec. 8, 9 and 11 at Consumer’s Energy’s Big Rock Point Restoration Project. The work assists in the demolition of the large concrete monolith located inside the plant’s former containment sphere.
The blasts were used to “soften the concrete and steel rebar monolith that once housed Big Rock Point’s reactor vessel, steam drum, spent fuel pool and other equipment. The explosives were designed, placed and detonated in order to fracture– but not drop–the structure which stands 75-feet tall at its apex.
The “softening” allows workers to more efficiently demolish the structure using standard demolition equipment–a 16,000 pound wrecking ball and ramming equipment.
The explosives were employed in response to the difficulty encountered in earlier demolition projects of similar structures at Big Rock Point and other nuclear sites across the country.
“Demolition of the turbine building earlier this year using the wrecking ball proved just how solidly the plant was constructed,” said Ray Flowers, Big Rock Point site general manager. “In addition to successfully performing similar work at other nuclear sites, they have also brought down such recognizable structures as the containment building at the Maine Yankee nuclear site, Seattle’s Kingdome, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium and the J.L.HudsonBuilding in Detroit. For a job like this, it was important that we identify and hire the industry leader.”
Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) was contracted by Consumers Energy to plan, engineer and execute the blasts.
“CDI was hired because it is the recognized worldwide leader in using explosives to assist in the demolition of unwanted buildings,” said Kurt Haas, Big Rock Point site general manager. “In addition to successfully performing similar work at other nuclear sites, they have also brought down such recognizable structures as the containment building at the Maine Yankee nuclear site, Seattle’s Kingdome, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium and the J.L.HudsonBuilding in Detroit. For a job like this, it was important that we identify and hire the industry leader.”
Preparation for the blasts began several months ago as the plant’s trademark containment sphere was being dismantled. CDI personnel developed the blast plan, which details the amount and placement of explosives in the concrete, along with safety procedures and contingency blast.
Blast 1 occurred Dec. 8 and was located in the area where the reactor vessel was once located; blast 2 occurred Dec. 9 and was located in the former spent fuel pool area; blast 3 occurred Dec. 11 and occurred in the former steam drum area. Approximately 500 pounds of explosives were used in the three blasts.
An extensive number of safety precautions were implemented for the work, including:
-Establishment of an 800-foot blast zone in which all personnel were required to vacate;
-A blast mate constructed of chain link fencing and fabric was laid over the individual blast zones to keep debris in place;
-A detailed countdown procedure and contingency plans were established and followed;
-Site security was increased and all nonessential personnel left the site during the blasts; and
-Advance notification of appropriate authorities were made.
“The months of planning paid off–the structure remains standing as planned after the blasts and the concrete and rebar has been softened,” said Haas.
The structure is now being brought down using the wrecking ball and other equipment. The approximately 23 million pound of debris will be loaded into containers and shipped out of state for disposal.
The concrete monolith is the last large remaining structure at Big Rock Point. The majority of the site is scheduled to be returned to a green field status, free for unrestricted use, by fall 2007.
Big Rock Point was the world’s first high powerdensity boiling water reactor and an important research site for the nuclear power industry. The plant was shut down on August 29, 1997, after 35 years of service; making it the nation’s longest running nuclear plant. Due to its many contributions to the nuclear and medical communities, Big Rock Point was named a Nuclear Historic Landmark by the American Nuclear Society.
So, do you mean you can take a stable structure, turn it into an unstable structure by blowing 2 holes in it and still call it a success?? And even worse, they got paid for it. It's still 80 feet in the air. What a disaster.
I got an e-mail from Doug Loizeaux, Vice President of CDI, today and with his help I am working on some of the misinformation in regards to this project.
Here is a portion of Doug’s e-mail I received this morning:
Firstly, CDI was not involved in the demolition of the turbine pedestal at the site. This pedestal was fragmented using excavators with hydraulic hammers by Bierlein Demolition, who is the main demo contractor on site.
Secondly, CDI's scope of work in our contract with Consumers Energy was to fracture four to six foot thick concrete walls (not fragment) in place, to facilitate Beirlein's secondary breakage with a crane and a ball. That is exactly what we did and that is why Consumers Energy put out a press release regarding the success of the project.
Attached is a photo which was forwarded by Consumers Energy showing the structure several days after blasting. Now tell me, could a crane and ball working at 80 feet above grade in a Nuclear environment beat down several thousand yards of 6 foot thick walls in this time frame without them being "softened"?
My apologies to Doug and CDI if any information posted on Demolition Forum was incorrect. I look forward to working with and hearing from Doug and CDI on any current and future projects that would be of interest to our readers.
You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but guess what? At the end of the day it is still a pig.
Why would anybody hire a blasting company, pay for their insurance and overhead to come out to their site and blast a structure 3 times just so they can ball it down?
They balled the Zip Mill down in 8 days. Under Loizeaux's argument it was a successful job too.
Most of us were born at night but it wasn't last night
Wow! Sounds like we have differing opinions on this one.
I read Demolition Forum, Implosion World, Demolition X, etc. and know a fair amount of the people who post replies.
There really needs to be some kind of "I know what I'm talking about" test to post replies. I've been doing this for nearly two decades now. I'm certainly no demolition expert, but I think I might be qualified to have an "educated opinion."
I've personally worked, not lived vicariously through others, at numerous DOE and nuclear sites. I know from experience that you cannot demo 6-foot thick, heavily reinforced concrete walls with a wrecking ball. Good luck even using a large hydraulic hammer. Ask me about the 5-foot thick walls I should have blasted at the INEEL site. I personally watched our operator, who by the way has over 35-years of wrecking experience, hammer away for weeks. I wish I had the foresight to soften the walls.
You need to put aside the "Little Man's" complex and work on a little reading comprehension. No where in this thread does anyone advocate using a wrecking ball to demolish 6' thick walls. There also isn't any argument against blasting reinforced concrete. In fact for any concrete greater than 3" blasting is probably the way to go. A "proper" blast plan is designed to utilize the least amount of explosives to produce debris of a reasonable size and configuration that the demolition contractor can load out with the equipment that is present on site. With a minimal amount of torch cutting of the rebar and minimal amount of downsizing of the pieces of concrete.
" Explosives Softening" is a bogus phrase whereby the explosives subcontractor substantially reduces the amount of drilling, explosives and labor but still charges the same amount as they would otherwise, thereby increasing their already substantial profit margin. The contractor then has to mobilize a crane or other piece of heavy equipment to the site to complete the work putting their operartor in danger trying to bring down a once stable now unstable piece of structure. "Explosives softening" is rarely if at all heard of in the land outside of NRC and DOE work because the people in the land of acronyms are the only ones foolish enough to be suckered in by it. Have you followed any project where the explosives contactor has to remove their own debris? They don't "harmonically delaminate "the concrete, the "blow the snot out of it" Why? Because the removal costs are coming out of their own pockets.
Now, if they could only coin a catchy phrase that would mean "doing an end run around the demolition contractor and convincing the Owner to contract directly with the subcontractor" they might really be in business.
Oh by the way, watching your operator with 75 years of experience doing all the work IS living vicariously in my eyes
First off, DemoDave1, I wasn't directing my reply to you specifically. I always thought these forums were public. If my reading comprehension is correct, I asked for all opinions. By the way I said 35-years, not 75.
We all know now you hate blasters for whatever reason. All I was doing was offering my experience.
By the way, I've picked wood out of debris piles, I've torched (though admittedly not very well), operated (again not the best), and worked way way up through the ranks.
Big Rock Point nuclear plant demolition
What a disaster.
It looks like some concrete just spalled off the side.
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