Traditionally, imploding a building in an urban area is both a noisy and messy operation. But Japan's Taisei Corporation has developed a way to do it both quietly and cleanly. Not to mention slowly and in a way that generates electricity as a portion of the building's potential energy is captured, as can be seen in the following video:
HT: Core77's Rain Noe, who describes the challenges solved by this remarkable engineering solution:
In space-tight Tokyo, it occasionally happens that a tall building needs to be done away with. Real estate markets shift, local needs change and anti-earthquake building technologies improve, making structures obsolete. But how do you get rid of a 40-story building surrounded by residents?
That was the problem faced by Taisei, a Japanese general contractor tasked with removing the formerly iconic Akasaka Prince Hotel. Dynamiting the structure was ruled out, as the noise, debris and resultant dust cloud would be inimical to local residents' quality of life. Thus they developed the TECOREP (Taisei Ecological Reproduction) System, whereby they can noiselessly dismantle a building floor-by-floor....
As parts of the building are dismantled and lowered down to the ground, the weight of those parts actually generate electricity, because the lowering hoists utilize a regenerative braking system. The weight of the building parts descending creates more energy than is needed to raise the empty hook back up to the top. This excess electricity is stored in batteries that then power the lights and ventilation fans on the jobsite.
We really have to tip our caps to Taisei's team - this is brilliant engineering!
Labels: ideas, technology
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