Blast fails to fell stack; excavator eventually gets the job done.
It was a perfect Washington day for an implosion. Blue skies provided an ideal backdrop for the videos and photos being shot by onlookers; a gentle breeze was set to carry the dust away; and the location of the stack – hundred of metres from anyone and anything – made for a safe environment.
Just one small probem – The stack failed to play ball. When explosives engineers hit the plunger, the PenPly stack just sat there as if untouched, mocking their efforts and cocking a snook at gravity. According to local news reports, the blasted stack was held aloft by a web of reinforcing bar. What is more of a mystery is why the presence of rebar came as a surprise to anyone.
Eventually, it was left to an excavator to finish what the explosives had started.
