A House Divided Against Itself

January 1, 2010 6:08 PM

Planned demolition in Liuzhou goes dangerously wrong.
posted by hermitosis (28 comments total)

At the bottom it says: "The second half of the building has since been demolished by a crane, reports claimed."

That was what I was thinking as I saw those pictures. After a screw up like that, the only safe way to finish the job is with a headache ball. And it probably took weeks.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:14 PM on January 1, 2010

see also
posted by joshwa at 6:16 PM on January 1, 2010

More *AWESOME!* photos from China
posted by the cuban at 6:17 PM on January 1, 2010 [13 favorites]

"You're doing it wrong"? What next, EPIC FAIL on the front page of a paper?

(neat story, though. If I were a neighbour I'd be double-checking my insurance policies)
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 6:17 PM on January 1, 2010 [3 favorites]

It's not unheard of to have issues dropping buildings.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 6:17 PM on January 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

"You're doing it wrong"? What next, EPIC FAIL on the front page of a paper?

The Daily Mail is not a newspaper. Think of it as a comic for grown-ups.
posted by cillit bang at 6:23 PM on January 1, 2010 [7 favorites]

Around the time of the Olympics, Salt Lake City decided to replace the grimy main branch of its public library with a sparkling new facility to be located about a block away. To clear the site, they had to bring down a medium-height office building. They announced the demolition in advance, of course. But I had forgotten about it by the time it took place. When it did, I just happened to be standing by a window in the slated-for-replacement branch. I heard some noise outside, looked out through the window, saw 20 stories tip over, remembered that this was the scheduled blast, and watched as the building crashed down.

It was incredible stroke of good luck. Not only did I get to be completely surprised by the uncommon sight of a building tipping over and collapsing, I didn't have to be worried about anyone getting hurt.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:33 PM on January 1, 2010

Parcel fell apart? Shoulda tied that ribbon tighter.
posted by DU at 6:35 PM on January 1, 2010

Imagine Hitler and Jeremy Clarkson running Digg, that's the Daily Mail website.
posted by fire&wings at 6:38 PM on January 1, 2010 [16 favorites]

This would have been a post 5x better if it had shown 5 failed demolitions.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:47 PM on January 1, 2010

I always feel there's a subtext to these kinds of stories. Hmm, I wonder what that is...
posted by Sova at 6:48 PM on January 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but what about all those buildings that are ineffectively demolished in America, huh?
posted by Cyrano at 6:52 PM on January 1, 2010

More *AWESOME!* photos from China

Oh man! Being a secluded American, there's nothing I like better than looking at other secluded places that I'll never be able to go to.
Bravo to you, sir!
posted by Balisong at 7:05 PM on January 1, 2010

The comments are great. A good mix of shockingly callous xenophobia and ignorance along with cautious, reasoned responses to same. Has anyone ever changed their minds while reading a comment thread online? Does that research exist?
posted by noway at 7:09 PM on January 1, 2010

Leaning is one thing, but rolling is a whole new level of failed demolition.
posted by Copronymus at 7:10 PM on January 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

It was incredible stroke of good luck. Not only did I get to be completely surprised by the uncommon sight of a building tipping over and collapsing, I didn't have to be worried about anyone getting hurt.

I think the optimal situation, if I could somehow orchestrate it, would be me being shocked by a building falling, worrying about all the people dying, totally having a crazy adrenaline surge, and then remembering that it's all good.
posted by floam at 7:11 PM on January 1, 2010

Instead of discussing the article itself, I'd much prefer to mindlessly rant about how much TEH DAILY MAIL SUX0RZ!!!!11!!1
posted by Lobster Garden at 7:14 PM on January 1, 2010

Lurkers on MetaFilter carry on, unperturbed by the dangerously leaning building.
posted by AwkwardPause at 7:25 PM on January 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Implosion World where demolition comes alive
posted by hortense at 7:30 PM on January 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Apparently taking down a building like you'd cut down a tree doesn't work.
posted by ianbanks at 7:57 PM on January 1, 2010

More *AWESOME!* photos from China
posted by the cuban at 9:17 PM on January 1

jesus christ those photos are depressing. my parents are from china and it shocks me to think what life would be like for them if they still lived there.
posted by yeoz at 8:09 PM on January 1, 2010

You know, I considered the possible reaction to a Mail link before I posted, but then it occurred to me that it was actually a decent article on its own, headline notwithstanding. The pictures are good, the video is good, the details are given -- so what the hell.

This would have been a post 5x better if it had shown 5 failed demolitions.

It's the dawn of a new year. No point in setting posting standards for myself that I won't be able to live up to later on.
posted by hermitosis at 9:07 PM on January 1, 2010

Great title for this post. That is all.
posted by Galvatron at 9:17 PM on January 1, 2010

jesus christ those photos are depressing.

I liked some of them, like the one of the two kids in the bathtub in the field, with the city in the background.
posted by mannequito at 9:23 PM on January 1, 2010

Sometimes they demolish the wrong building.
posted by eye of newt at 9:52 PM on January 1, 2010

And it probably took weeks.

The footage was taken two days ago.
posted by adamdschneider at 11:11 PM on January 1, 2010

I love the 9/11 derail in the comments.
posted by jscott at 11:32 PM on January 1, 2010

Wait. Comics are just for kids?
Huh.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 8:25 AM on January 2, 2010