Officials now plan to use explosives Saturday afternoon to take down two heavily damaged cranes at the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans. Strong winds prevented crews from prepping the canes for the controlled demolition. New Orleans Fire Chief Tim McConnell says the cranes are not stable.
“The rear tower moved four inches overnight, the one in the front moved two inches. They are not designed to do that, so we are working now, we have our cranes, we have our experts and engineers, and the team that is going to take this down,” said McConnell.
Officials hoped to use a controlled demolition Friday to bring down the damaged cranes, but it can’t be done.
McConnell says there is major gas and electrical infrastructure going to the French Quarter that are in danger if the cranes collapse
“We don’t want this to do something to fall on its own that causes damage to this critical infrastructure or hurts any of the businesses around there.
McConnell hopes to have the crane demolition done by dark as tropical weather could impact the New Orleans later today.
“The heavy rain coming in acts as additional weight on the building. Plus it’s a lubricant, so parts begin to slide, those slide and impacts the tower, the concrete comes down and hits the tower, then you’ve created another possibility for these things to come down uncontrolled,” said McConnell.
Two bodies are still inside the rubble. McConnell says not only do they want to safely demolish the cranes, but they hope to have a better chance of recovering the remains for the families.