Kissimmee River Restoration – Demolition

PROJECT DETAILS

Prior to 1940, human habitation was sparse within the Kissimmee River Basin.  Following World War II, rapid growth and development set the stage for extensive property damage when a severe hurricane struck the area in 1947.  The massive flooding sparked public pressure to develop measures to reduce the threat of potential flood damage to property.  In 1948, Congress authorized the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to initiate construction of the Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood control and protection.  Starting in 1962, the Kissimmee River was channelized and transformed into a series of water reservoirs.

The original Kissimmee River stretched from Orlando southward to Lake Okeechobee in central Florida.  The river moved slowly, meandering for approximately 103 miles within a one or two mile wide floodplain and supported about 35,000 acres of wetlands.

The effects of the channelization of the Kissimmee River resulted in shortages of clean water at critical times, eliminated 35 miles of meandering river channel along with 6200 acres of floodplain wetlands, and altered the hydrologic characteristics of the surrounding area.

In response to public concerns, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District have joined forces to restore the ecosystem with a program that covers a 9000 square mile area that includes the Kissimmee River Basin, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp and the Estuaries of Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands.

International Technologies Corporation ( IT ) was contracted to head up the first phase of this massive restoration project.  They have approximately 60 pieces of earth moving equipment onsite and are moving an average of 50,000 cubic yards of material back into the 30 foot deep, 300 foot wide canal that is the present day Kissimmee River.

The canal system has a number of water control structures and navigational locks which were constructed at various locations along the river.  A select few of these structures, made of concrete and steel must be removed in order to restore the wetland to it’s original state.  IT Corporation feels that blasting is the best means of removing these structures and has contracted Dykon to shoot the first set of structures on this ongoing restoration project.

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved the blasting plan prepared jointly by Dykon and IT Corporation and Structure 65B near Lorida, Florida is being prepared for explosive demolition.

The project consists of two separate reinforced concrete structures that must be blasted.  The first structure to be demolished is the navigational lock that allowed for passage of river traffic up and down the Kissimmee River.  The steel miter gates and the control buildings were removed conventionally.  After the lock has been blasted, it will be buried beneath the sand and silt of the Kissimmee River.

The second structure to be blasted is a three gated water control structure and access bridge to the lock system.  It will be demolished in two shots.  The first blast will remove the upper gate structure to just above the service road deck, leaving access to the lock structure area for as long as possible.  IT Corporation will bury the demolished lock while the gate structure is being prepared for blasting.

Part of the process to prepare the two structures for demolishing is to remove the steel miter gates from the lock structure and the steel spillway gates from the water control structure.

On Wednesday, June 14, 2000 a test blast was detonated in the lock structure to verify the accuracy of the load calculations.  On June 15, 2000, the entire remaining lock structure was blasted.

The top of the spillway gate structure had to be removed first in order to access the supporting columns beneath so that the holes could be drilled for the charges.  The top of the structure was blasted off on Monday, June 19, 2000.  Click on the image to see bigger pictures and a video clip of the blast.

On Wednesday, June 21, 2000, the service road and underwater support columns for the spillway structure were blasted.  This was the last blast for this set of structures.