Demolition of twin towers: Removal of debris to take 90 days, says Edifice Engineering

Top officials along with the Noida police commissioner inspected the twin tower demolition site Monday as the issue of debris management remained a concern for them as well as residents of nearby societies. Edifice Engineering said it would take 90 days to clear the debris, estimated to be around 80,000 tonnes of concrete, steel and iron.

A meeting with residents was held at the Emerald Court society in the afternoon by officials of Edifice Engineering, Jet Demolitions, Central Building Research Institute and the Noida Authority while Police Commissioner Alok Singh and Joint Commissioner Love Kumar were also present.

Edifice Engineering was hired for the demolition job and it had roped in South African firm Jet Demolitions as a collaborator. The CBRI was appointed as technical expert by the Supreme Court while real estate developer Supertech bore the cost and the Noida Authority oversaw the whole exercise.

"The police commissioner has also inspected the site where the implosion was carried out yesterday. Residents are happy with the demolition. Now Edifice is looking after the debris management. They are now looking to carry out the secondary breaking of the debris before sending it for recycling," Joe Brinkkman, the managing director of South African Jet Demolitions, told reporters after the meeting.

He said the Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering looked at all best possible plans for debris management and also consulted Jet Demolitions, which has to its name, among other projects, the successful demolition of the 108-metre-tall Bank of Lisbon building in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2019.

"Edifice has consulted debris management widely to look at all the best options first. The most important thing is that it (debris) does not go to waste, is recycled and reused," Brinkkman said.

"After the Bank of Lisbon building demolition, we had also done the same thing. We made sure that everything was recycled and reused and up to world standards," said the Jet Demolitions MD, who was part of the seven-member detonation team for Noida twin towers demolition.

Mayur Mehta, project manager for Edifice Engineering, said the debris management plan has been submitted to the Noida Authority and accepted by them.

"It would take 90 days to clear the debris from the site in a safe manner," Mehta told PTI.

Edifice Engineering partner Utkarsh Mehta said around 35,000 cubic metres or approximately 80,000 tonnes of debris was left in the aftermath of the eye-popping event.

Around 50,000 tonnes of it has been absorbed in the basements of the now-demolished towers while the remaining would be disposed of in 90 days.

"We will have to coordinate with the Emerald Court and ATS Village societies for the disposal since the debris would have to be first processed at the site only and then it would be taken to construction and demolition waste processing centres. Coordination would be needed for fixing the timing for work at the site to cause least disturbance to residents," he told reporters post-demolition Sunday.