Blasting the columns of the massive structure caused neither gas leaks nor interruptions to vital communications. Weidlinger's "green" temporary structures were made from recycled Coliseum soil and materials.

NEW YORK, February 2, 2007 - Weidlinger Associates, Inc., received final confirmation today that their structures to protect essential lifelines during the New Haven Coliseum demolition performed as intended. The “green” temporary structures, which prevented the almost 1,400 tons of debris from harming the lifelines in any way, were fashioned from construction materials on the site, as well as 15,000 rented tires and “chicken wire” fencing.

In a back story almost as interesting as the blasting itself, Weidlinger was hired by the Stamford Wrecking Company months before the demolition to create protection for fragile utilities under the Coliseum, which were at high risk of failure. Stephen Goldblum, Stamford Wrecking’s Chief Executive Officer, reported this morning that his post-blast cleanup team had cleared debris from one of Weidlinger’s temporary constructions, a bridge structure on South Orange Street. They found that it had behaved as designed and, even more important, was in the condition predicted by pre-event analysis. Weidlinger created, tested, and supervised the construction of the bridge and other structures. The structures, which had no precedent, performed admirably well in the real event.

The Coliseum rose up into the air on twenty 65-foot super-columns. South Orange Street traversed the building at ground level, and George Street was partially covered by the building. The utility lines, some more than a century old, were buried under these streets. Rerouting the lines before demolition or repairing any damage that could have resulted from the demolition would have been costly and inconvenient. Instead, after several meetings and a peer review, the City of New Haven embraced Weidlinger’s alternate proposal.

On South Orange Street, a bridge was constructed of materials taken from the building. It was designed to take advantage of falling debris from the blasting to anchor one side, eliminating the need for connections that would damage the street. On George Street, a wedge-shaped berm of soil was built to reduce the effects of damaging vibrations from the blasts and of falling debris. The properties of the soil and of the tires used to build in additional protection were established through simple on-site tests that used available concrete blocks and other materials at hand. Weidlinger engineers established the validity of their plan with a series of high-fidelity computer simulations that incorporated the results of the on-site testing.

“Weidlinger tested real dynamic soil behavior and the energy absorption of tires. The tests were original, accurate, and cost very little,” said Dr. Mohammed Ettouney, principal-in-charge of the project. “To our knowledge, no information exists regarding these two subject tests elsewhere. And the design was 100% green: we used only recycled materials in the final construction."

To design the soil berm, Weidlinger relied partly on past knowledge of how to protect lifelines and structures from ground shaking during earthquakes. “This project involved very advanced analysis, sound basic physics, and good old engineering judgment. Such a uniquely Weidlinger mix helped us achieve its very demanding goals under real blast/progressive collapse conditions,” Dr. Ettouney said.