Former Detroit Lions Stadium Implosion Fails to Bring Down Structure

The Pontiac Silverdome was the home to the NFL’s Detroit Lions from 1975-2001 and NBA’s Detroit Pistons from 1978-1988.  After the Lions opened their new Stadium in 2002, the Silverdome was passed around several times before it closed for the last time in 2013.  Earlier this year, the building was condemned and the first round of demolition by implosion was scheduled for Sunday, December 3.

On Sunday, the upper section of the stadium was set to be demolished by way of explosives, but as they were detonated, some dust appeared, but the building still stood tall.  The demolition is being carried out by the Detroit-based Adamo Group. 

Rick Cuppetilli, executive Vice President for Adamo, told the Detroit Free Press that around 10% of the explosive devices failed to detonate due to wiring issues.  Originally, it was thought that the structure may end up falling on its own, but after additional investigation the team determined that the steel structures that failed to implode will need to be removed, either by excavator or another round of implosion.

Below is the video of the failed demolition, shared to Youtube by Detroiturbex.com:

This isn’t the first demolition that has failed to bring down a building and it likely won’t be the last.  The good thing is that the Silverdome is in a fairly secluded area and the unstable structure is not creating an unsafe condition for adjacent residents.  The additional demolition work that will need to take place will create some interesting circumstances for the workers tasked with the job, however.

As always, when things don’t go as planned, the internet comes to the rescue with hard hitting commentary:

More of Rick Cuppetilli's comments about the failed implosion:

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