Rare Bird, Inc. | Articles : Implosion World

	Web Reviews From 1997 to the present, President/Creative Director, Jim Cota has been writing informative reviews of Web sites and other internet related issues for the Indianapolis Business Journal. If you've missed the articles in print you can catch up on past stories here. Articles are reprinted with permission of the Indianapolis Business Journal, copyright 1997 - 2003, IBJ Corp.

Boom!

Okay, I know it wasn't necessarily intended to be entertaining, but it is. Not entertaining in a Seinfeld way, more like a train wreck without any injuries. Or... you know how old ships are decommissioned and then given to the Navy for artillery practice? They drag these ships out somewhere that the natural ecosystem could use an artificial reef, and then — BOOM! — they sink the ship using weapons like torpedoes, long range ballistics, or F-16 bombing runs. It's a little like that.

"It" in this case is ImplosionWorld, the self-described home of the explosive demolition industry. This site was originally intended (I think) to provide news and information on a technique that has grown from an experimental procedure to worldwide industry with several hundred implosions a year. The site features detailed information on industry history, recent news, frequently asked questions. "Did You Know?" offers some unique insight on a variety of topics, including "The Myth of Implosion." (Speaking of which, did you know that only a very small percentage of explosive demolition jobs are true implosions? Most are designed to drop the building into a designated space, like a parking lot. It's a rarity when a building must fall within it's own footprint, and only a handful of companies in the world possess the experience to pull it off.) There's also a forum for recreational implosion fans to write detailed accounts about specific implosions in the vein of eyewitness accounts called "I Was There". While all of this information is indeed interesting, nothing really compares to the photographic and video images available; and they are available in droves.

What's the highlight? Without a doubt, "Implosion Live!" This section allows you to view video images of significant projects on your computer. The even provided a live webcast of the Market Square Implosion, which is still available for viewing.

The site strives to stay true to it's goal: "To report timely, useful and factual information in a way that does justice to the blasting specialists worldwide who work diligently to keep structural blasting safe, while continuously experimenting with new ways to impress us all."

Still, while the primary impetus for the site was informational, I can't help but think the people responsible for creating it were sitting around a conference room table one day when one of them said, "Wouldn't it be cool..." And it is.