© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Implosion Interruptus: Silo Needs Extra Push To Come Down

We like videos of bridges and buildings and other things being blown up on purpose.

Here's the story of an implosion that didn't go quite according to plan, which may make it even more fun. On Sunday near Brisbane, Australia, a silo used to store malt for brewing beer was supposed to collapse upon itself after a set of controlled explosions.

The 50-year-old structure wouldn't go down. It leaned, but wouldn't topple. It took about 40 minutes for heavy equipment to push it over the rest of the way.

The BBC has video. As Australia's 9News adds "this old girl wasn't ready to go." The silo was about 50 years old. One young witness tells the network that the eventual collapse was "awesome."

Some of our past posts about big explosions:

-- VIDEO: Missouri Bridge Blows Up Real Good (On Purpose)

-- Kaboom! Lake Champlain Bridge Is Gone

-- KABOOM! San Diego's Entire Fireworks Show Ignites At Once

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.