The explosive weekend began with a journey to Amsterdam, The Netherlands to participate in the blasting of a 320-foot tall concrete smokestack for one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates, Corus Metals.

The project required a wide array of Protec's services, beginning with a detailed pre-blast site analysis. "Although, visually, smokestacks appear to be the simplest type of structure to fell, history actually shows that the opposite is true," explained Project Manager Jack Curran. "Even with the most meticulous drilling and preparation, stacks have been known to pitch off center as they fall due to subtle, often undetectable inconsistencies in concrete or re-bar strength." There was little margin for error on the Corus site, as the stack needed to be dropped within a narrow area bordered by active office facilities and critical underground pipelines.

Curran and his crew began their site work by photographing and inspecting adjacent office structures and other nearby liabilities. The team then installed portable field seismographs around the drop zone, including a seismic transducer mounted several feet below grade alongside the facility's most sensitive pipelines.

Given The Netherlands close proximity to France, Belgium and Germany - and throwing in a few Americans for good measure - another concern facing project officials was a potential language barrier between work crews. However these worries proved largely unfounded, as Curran later reported, "Aside from a few Dutch-English translation issues related to engineering terminology, all activities went according to plan. The project's multi-lingual blaster, Pieter Uittenboogaard, quickly resolved the few issues that did arise, and his team proved instrumental in ensuring that all parties communicated effectively"

After triggering several cameras around the site to record the event, Curran signaled that the Protec team was clear of the zone. Uittenboogaard then sounded a final warning siren and initiated the blast.