Unconventional demolition is the act of doing away with or destroying structures damaged by a natural or manmade disaster. Natural causes could be a tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake, while manmade causes include explosions or fire. The site could be small, or it could be as large as the World Trade Center or the Gulf Coast and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

During unconventional or unplanned demolition, structures are unstable. Inspections, surveys, and sample collections cannot be performed. The demolition contractor has difficulty evaluating the project in its entirety. Removal of asbestos, lead, tanks, compressed cylinders or purging of pipelines is not done before demolition. Instead, these and other hazards will be discovered as removal of debris progresses. Therefore, all demolition personnel must be aware of these types of hazards and the safety precautions to take to control them.












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