Implosion went “as close to plan as possible”.
Despite fears that a recent fire might have made the implosion more difficult to control, yesterday’s implosion of New Orleans’ Grand Palace Hotel reportedly went according to plan.
The 17-story building at South Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street collapsed on schedule at 8 a.m., destroyed by 400 pounds of explosives to make way for a new teaching hospital.
The implosion was “incredibly successful” and went “as close to plan as possible,” said Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the state office responsible for the construction of the new hospital.
University Medical Center, which will open in 2015 as the successor to Charity Hospital, will be a “gem the city of New Orleans can be incredibly proud of,” Stephens said.
Interstate 10, which was closed in both directions, had reopened by 11 a.m. A one-block section of South Claiborne Avenue remained closed all day as workers cut and removed a twisted pile of wreckage obstructing the roadway.
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