MIAMI — After 26 years on Miami’s Brickell Key, the Mandarin Oriental hotel will come crashing down Sunday in a controlled implosion expected to last just seconds.
On Wednesday, developers and engineers walked through exactly how it will happen.
“You’ll have dust happening at a concentrated point in time,” said BG Group Managing Member Ivy Fradin. “We will envision, given the implosion that’s about to happen here, that the dust will mitigate within a matter of minutes, and life will return to normal.”
To prepare for the blast, crews have already removed hazardous materials from the building, leaving mainly concrete behind.
Officials say multiple floors have been fitted with explosives designed to bring the building straight down.
“The debris is intended to fall into the footprint of the building,” said Fradin. “We also have barges that we set up to catch any potential debris that could fall into the bay, even though none is expected.”
No evacuations are required, but there will be a strict exclusion zone.
Residents inside that area will be asked to stay indoors and keep windows closed.
For those who are planning to be in the area on Sunday, access on and off Brickell Key will be shut down from 7:30 a.m. until the early afternoon, officials said.
“The implosion will go off, that is a 20-second event,” said Fradin. “You’ll hear it before you see it.”
Crews, police, and fire rescue units will be standing by.
For those who call the area home, it will be a rare and unforgettable moment.
“I’m planning on watching it, I was actually trying to scope out a good place to see it. We have to be about 800 feet away,” said resident Noel Cooperstein. “I think it’ll work, I’ve seen them on TV in New York City and I’ve never seen one in Miami, but hopefully it works and it comes down pretty quick.”
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