International Paper Plant Structures
PROJECT OUTLINE
International Paper Company awarded the demolition and clearance of its massive facility in Courtland, Alabama to Jackson Demolition Services, Inc. (Jackson). Jackson turned to BWD for explosives demolition design for and felling of the taller structures at the site, once the hundreds of acres of low-rise structures and facilities had been cleared by Jackson using mechanical demolition methods.
BWD worked closely with Jackson and International Paper personnel to carefully outline the steps associated with structural preparation of the boilers and chimneys to be felled by BWD. This program included participation by BWD’s structural engineer who reviewed and then stamped all of the structural modifications which were to be performed by Jackson in the structures, per BWD’s design.
THE DETONATION
Jackson asked BWD to perform its operations in two (2) phases. The first took place on May 4, 2019, when BWD used a total of 273 lbs. of conventional and linear shaped charge explosives to fell Boilers Units #1 and #2 at the site. The focus of Phase 1 was to bring the adjacent, but differently configured, boiler structures down, simultaneously, to a level where the equipment which Jackson had on site could easily access the debris for secondary demolition, scrap separation, downsizing and removal.
Once the debris from Phase 1 had been cleared by Jackson, BWD remobilized for Phase 2 and used a total of 284 lbs. of conventional and linear shaped charge explosives to bring down the #3 Recovery Boiler, its 348’ tall concrete chimney and the #3 Power Boiler with its 382’ tall concrete chimney in a single implosion operation. Once again, BWD’s structural engineer reviewed every aspect of the structural preparation program to ensure the safety of same while being performed by Jackson on site.
Both phases went as planned, and on schedule to the satisfaction of International Paper, allowing Jackson to complete the project on schedule.
Click HERE to watch the International Paper Plant implosion.
