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at the desired height from a crane boom and a secondary steel rope pulls the ball toward the crane cab. The lateral rope drum clutch is then released, and the ball swings as a pendulum to strike the structure. Another method for lateral demolition is to pivot the crane boom to accelerate the ball toward the target. This is repeated as needed until the structure is broken down into debris that can easily be loaded and hauled away. The demolition action is carried out entirely through the
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To demolish roofs and other horizontal spans, the ball is typically suspended by a length of steel chain attached to the lifting hook of a crane boom above the structure, the rope drum clutch is released and the ball is allowed to free-fall onto the structure. To demolish walls the ball is suspended
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Demolition and reuse of concrete and masonry: guidelines for demolition and reuse of concrete and masonry: proceedings of the Third
International RILEM Symposium on Demolition and Reuse of Concrete and Masonry held in Odense, Denmark, organized by RILEM TC 121-DRG and the Danish Building Research
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Modern wrecking balls have had a slight re-shaping, with the metal sphere changed into a pear shape with a portion of the top cut off. This shape allows the ball to be more easily pulled back through a roof or concrete slab after it has broken through.
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However, wrecking balls are still used when other demolition methods may not be practical, due for example to local environmental issues or the presence of hazardous building materials such as asbestos or lead.
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steel, which means the steel is not cast into a mold in a molten state; rather, it is formed under very high pressure while the steel is red hot (soft but not molten) to compress and to strengthen it.
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large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An early documented use was in the breaking up of the
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and more efficient or practical than wrecking balls, to destroy buildings. The most common use of blasting charges is to collapse a building, thus limiting collateral damage; see
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In 1993, the wrecking ball was described as "one of the most common forms of large-scale coarse demolition." With the invention of
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and other machinery, the wrecking ball has become less common at demolition sites as its working efficiency is less than that of
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Wrecking balls range from about 1,000 pounds (450 kg) to around 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg). The ball is made from
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lifts and releases a loose ball (called a drop ball) onto large rocks to reduce them to manageable size.
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Demolition work has been carried out using a 5,500-pound (2,500 kg) wrecking ball suspended from a
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The advancement of technology led to the development and use of blasting charges, safer than
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Video of a wrecking ball in operation to demolish the
Raiffeisen Silo feed mill in
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Demolition: the art of demolishing, dismantling, imploding, toppling & razing
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276:. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal: Distributed by Workman Pub. Co.
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222:"Demolition precedes new construction for Ursuline schools"
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259:Demolition: practices, technology, and management
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16:Heavy steel ball used for demolishing buildings
257:Diven, Richard J. and Mark Shaurette (2010).
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244:Rubble: unearthing the history of demolition
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84:in 1888–1889, by Henry Bath and Co, at
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220:Karman III, John R. (18 August 2008).
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194:Lauritzen, Erik K., ed. (1993).
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21:Wrecking ball (disambiguation)
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69:ball, usually hung from a
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303:at Wikimedia Commons
242:Byles, Jeff (2005).
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181:References
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