According to the latest information out of the French Quarter in New Orleans, the two cranes, both standing after the partial collapse of the under-construction multi-use building will be blown down today as a precaution as a major tropical storm moves into the New Orleans area over the weekend.
The cranes, both approaching 300-ft tall with multi-ton booms, that loom over the building will be weakened by demolition teams cutting them at critical points and placing explosives to essentially collapse the cranes straight down in order to avoid any additional damage to the hotel or the surrounding historic buildings in the Quarter.
Paul McConnell, the New Orleans Fire chief, stated that the “right people” have been on the site since Saturday night, and their expertise on the Oklahoma Bombing site and the World Trade Center Ground Zero site is being used to develop a demolition plan for the cranes. An additional large mobile crane has been moved onto the street next to the collapsed hotel structure and it will be used to lift demolition experts so that they can place explosive charges and further weaken the crane structures in preparation for the demolition later today.
You can read the Associated Press reporting about this critical move here.
