Some 4,800 pounds of explosives have been placed in the Georgia Dome to bring down the building Monday morning.
The Dome – the home of the Falcons and many other sports events over the past 25 years – is scheduled for implosion at 7:30 a.m.
Watch LIVE: Georgia Dome implosion
“There will be a 12-second period in which all the explosives will go off and the structure falls,” said Rick Cuppetilli, executive vice president of the lead demolition contractor, Detroit-based Adamo Group.
He said about 4,500 pounds of dynamite will bring down the concrete columns and another 300 pounds of explosives will handle the steel in the upper ring.
Two Super Bowls and four Final Fours (three men’s and one women’s) were played in the Georgia Dome. Olympic gold medals were decided there in three sports (basketball, gymnastics and handball). And there were 256 Falcons games, 23 SEC Championship football games, even 76 Hawks games while Philips Arena was under construction -– in all, 1,456 events attended by about 39 million people from 1992 through early this year.
Since the Dome’s final event March 5, the building has been emptied and gutted and readied for implosion. Its successor, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, opened next door on Aug. 26.
The cost of demolishing the Dome is included in the new stadium’s $1.5 billion-plus budget.
Further reading:
How the Georgia Dome will be imploded – and how it will be remembered
About the Author
