It only took few seconds to see one of the piezometric towers of the Verona steel mill disappearing. A concrete structure of about 30 meters high which, for the refurbishing of the plants arranged by the owner of the steelworks, the Pittini Group, had to be demolished, together with the twin one which will soon come to the same end. The operations, coordinated by the Police Authority, was handled by Sid Srl - Società Italiana Demolizioni, part of Semat Spa. Mauro Tininini, Sid's managing director, tells us in detail about the procedures and logistics of the operation.
"The controlled explosive demolition required a considerable effort in terms of collaboration, especially between the Police and the State Railways, to ensure that each step could be safely completed - explains Tininini-. The tower was located in a quite sensitive area of the Plant, near the Turin-Venice railway line".
As a result, rail traffic had been blocked for two hours and traffic on the roads around the area affected by the demolition been banned. In order to bring down the tower, 18 loads of TNT gel had been placed, for a total of about two kilos of explosive.
"The charges had been placed at the leg base of the tower, scheduled to explode one after another at a distance of fractions of seconds to control the fall of the structure - continues Tininini -. On the ground, all around, an inert material dump had been prepared to cushion the impact of the structure".
The intervention lasted for five days: two for the preparatory stages, one for detonation, and other two days for the crushing and disposal of demolished items.
