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GZ gym reduced to rubble
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THE old Guangzhou Gymnasium was pulled down in China's biggest controlled explosion at 12.09pm on Friday to make way for a new one, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Saturday.
Originally scheduled for 11am, the gymnasium's destruction was delayed so that the China Central Television could broadcast it live across the country, the paper said.
Guangdong Vice-Governor Xu Deli triggered the blast from a VIP platform 100 metres away. Within 3.5 seconds, the 43,000 square-metre building collapsed inwards in a perfectly executed detonation. Eight hundred pigeons were then released.
A total of 336kg of explosives had been packed in more than 8,000 holes drilled at strategic points throughout the structure, according to the report.
Billowing smoke and dust completely covered the site for several minutes after the explosion.
However, thanks to tonnes of water sprayed onto the site from the surrounding area and from an overhead helicopter, the dust was kept to a minimum and dispersed within five minutes.
“This demolition is a breakthrough because we have reduced shock waves, noise and dust to a minimum level,” said Zheng Bingxu, chief engineer with Guangdong Hongda Demolition Engineering Company.
There have so far no reports of broken underground water pipes near the explosion site as people worried earlier, the Yangcheng Evening News reported. Nor has the metro project eight metres away from the gym been reportedly affected, the paper said.
Reports from Guangzhou Environmental Monitoring Station showed the blast was only 64 decibels loud 24 metres away from the gymnasium.
Hundreds of thousands of people watched the demolition on television to witness the end of the 45-year-old gymnasium, which was once the second largest in China.
Zheng said the building was dynamited after 18 days of preparation work to make way for a metro station and a new 56-floor commercial building. These will be built in the next two years.
The rubble at the explosion site is expected to be cleared by June 1.(SD-Agencies)
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