AOL NEWS: The ongoing demolition of a Tokyo skyscraper makes it look like the 460-foot-tall building is shrinking. Taisei Corp., the construction company taking down the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, is using a new demolition technique, disassembling the building from the top down, floor by floor. No mess, no dust — and it’s eco-friendly to boot.
Workers are using the top levels of the building as an enclosed workspace supported by temporary columns that are lowered by jacks as each floor is removed. A crane on the inside of the building works to deconstruct each floor. “It’s kind of like having a disassembly factory on top of the building and putting a big hat there, and then the building shrinks from the top,” a Taisei rep told Japanese art and design blog Spoon & Tamago.
The blog noted that this new demolition method reduces construction noise by 25 percent and creates 90 percent less dust than the typical wrecking ball or implosion methods. And it’s more energy-efficient: As the crane moves debris, it generates electricity that powers other equipment, making it a clean-energy project. … (more)
