LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Tropicana opened 67 years ago. It will take about 22 seconds to destroy it in Wednesday morning’s implosion.
FOX5 recently toured the implosion site and learned the Paradise Tower, closest to Las Vegas Boulevard, and Club Tower will be destroyed differently.
The Club Tower is framed with concrete. Dynamite will be used to bring it down. Pillars in certain areas will be blasted with dynamite to weaken them. The pillars will then no longer be able to support the weight of the building, and it will fall on itself.
The Paradise Tower is a steel-framed structure, so dynamite will not be used. Instead, a charge will send copper hurling through the steel to weaken it.
“To use an overused analogy, if you have a soft stick of butter and you put a knife through it doesn’t melt the butter, it doesn’t vaporize it, it just shoves it sideways. That’s what the copper does,” said the owner of Controlled Demolition Inc. Mark Loizeaux, which will conduct the implosion.
Also, in the Club Tower, pillars where the dynamite will go are wrapped with metal fencing to prevent large chunks of concrete from shooting out.
This is where the black curtain-like material wrapped around the pillars comes into play. These wrappings have been placed on certain floors where the blasting will occur, to keep smaller debris from flying away from the building.
The same applies to the Paradise Tower. Work to place the dynamite and copper charges on both buildings started last week and was expected to be done by Sunday.
There have been round-the-clock patrols to prevent anyone from triggering the explosive material.
FOX5 has also learned from crews, that 95 percent of these buildings will be recycled.
Concrete chunks on site will be crushed and used as a base for road pavement. The steel will be recycled and used for basically anything that is made of steel.
The implosion of the Paradise Tower will start first. It will fall slightly away from Las Vegas Boulevard.
About four seconds later, the Club Tower will fall slightly toward the Paradise Tower.
In about 22 seconds, more than six decades of history will be gone.
The site will be the area for the new A’s baseball stadium, which is expected to be completed in 2028.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.
