# Do they still demolish buildings with cranes and wrecking balls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099 "2026-08-02T19:18:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/1 "2026-08-02T19:18:57Z")
Like they’re about to do [here](http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/browse/demolition-garden-city-hotel-1), in 1973. What would happen to a building like this now? [“Before” view](http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/browse/garden-city-hotel-4) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/2 "2026-08-02T19:31:15Z")
I haven’t watched this whole video, but I saw this piece of equipment in a show on Prime Video (_Massive Engineering Mistakes_) that featured it taking down a 10-story building that had resisted explosive demolition. The high reach. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QS1_3Gghxbk/maxresdefault.jpg "How America's Biggest Demolition Excavator Was Built") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1_3Gghxbk) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/3 "2026-08-02T21:13:45Z")
I believe that’s going to come down to the specific jurisdiction. IIRC, in some areas it’s not allowed, in other areas it’s allowed, but it’s restricted to dropping the wrecking ball on the structure, not swinging it. The issue is, again IIRC, where all the debris is going to end up. ETA Here’s the law from NY, which, at least on the face of it, suggests you can use a swinging wrecking ball as long as you have enough open space around the structure and said structure is under 80 feet tall. There’s some other restrictions mentioned on the page and I’m sure the Authority Having Jurisdiction will have their own rules as well. > **[N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 12 §§ 23-3.4 - Mechanical methods of demolition](https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/12-NYCRR-23-3.4)** ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/4 "2026-08-02T21:23:10Z")
I watched a wrecking ball demo down the street from my residence in about 1995. They also used the giant tyrannosaurus jaws claw machine for much of it. It was enormously slow and difficult process. The problem was that the building was so hemmed in with adjacent structures that they could not accept any debris escaping the footprint of the building by more than, WAG 20 feet. There simply wasn’t room to use explosives safely. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/5 "2026-08-02T21:56:02Z")
If the nearest building is twenty feet away, it doesn’t sound like there’s enough room to swing a wrecking ball. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/6 "2026-08-02T21:58:02Z")
Hence a possible restriction to dropping the weight/ball instead of swing it. Mentioned by Joey above. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/7 "2026-08-02T22:07:30Z")
There was enough setback from the street that they parked the crane in front of the building and slowly whacked at it from center part of the front, slowly working towards the back. Which basically caused the sides to cave inwards as they went. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/8 "2026-08-02T23:11:34Z")
Construction guys do love to brag. 😅 [Wrecking Balls come in various sizes](https://www.constructionyeti.com/how-much-does-a-wrecking-ball-weigh/). Depends on the size of the building and its condition. A smaller crane swinging a smaller wrecking ball can fit into tighter spaces ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/9 "2026-08-03T00:00:02Z")
Why don’t they dismantle a building by just taking it apart piece-by-piece in the opposite order that they mantled it in the first place? Would that take any more time and effort than it took to build the building? Wouldn’t they be able to recover a lot more unbroken salvageable parts that way? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/10 "2026-08-03T00:25:17Z")
I suspect many of the buildings taken down by wrecking balls are old factories, housing projects or abandoned schools that have no other structures near them. Many of them here in Detroit, there is nothing left to salvage. Wrecking balls are cheap and leave a pile of rubble and the rubble is less of a danger or an eyesore than an old factory that people “explore” and make videos of. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/11 "2026-08-03T00:27:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Why don’t they dismantle a building by just taking it apart piece-by-piece in the opposite order that they mantled it in the first place? That would take weeks or even months. Smashing things only takes days. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/12 "2026-08-03T01:16:04Z")
Everything they’re built of is either obsolete or cast in place. IOW it’s feedstock for recycling, not for direct reuse. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/13 "2026-08-03T01:16:36Z")
I watched an interesting method years ago. It was a brick building, probably 4 or 5 floors. They wrapped a huge chain around the entire building and hooked it to an enormous bulldozer. After a few minutes of the steel tracks scrambling on the street it pulled the chain through and the building dropped on itself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/14 "2026-08-03T01:21:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Why don’t they dismantle a building by just taking it apart piece-by-piece in the opposite order that they mantled it in the first place? In addition to the time and effort, part of the mantling was things like setting concrete that really can’t be undone. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/15 "2026-08-03T01:25:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Why don’t they dismantle a building by just taking it apart piece-by-piece in the opposite order that they mantled it in the first place? It would be too expensive and dangerous, between the danger of things and people falling and the unpredictable wear and stresses on an old building risking a collapse. Anything salvagable they rip out before demolition, most of the leftovers are worthless or need to be outright melted and reforged. Interestingly, googling about this issue I found that the Japanese have invented a “Cut and Take Down Method” that does the opposite; they take the building down from the bottom up instead of the top down, lowering it as each story is dismantled. Still a bit more expensive than a conventional demolition but safer than trying to dismantle it from the top down, as everything happens at ground level. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/16 "2026-08-03T01:46:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Why don’t they dismantle a building by just taking it apart piece-by-piece in the opposite order that they mantled it in the first place? > > Would that take any more time and effort than it took to build the building? > > Wouldn’t they be able to recover a lot more unbroken salvageable parts that way? That’s what they do in New York City. You can’t wrecking ball or implode a building that surrounded by 20-60 story skyscrapers. The Deutsche Bank building that was damaged on 9/11 being a prime example. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/17 "2026-08-03T01:52:03Z")
When I was a kid I remember seeing wrecking balls in Chicago in the 70’s. I do not think I have see one after the 90’s though (maybe even the 80’s). Been ages since I saw one in action. Whether that is a law or they just found a better way to dismantle a building I do not know. I’m guessing large “modern” buildings (steel construction and not masonry) do not lend themselves to being demolished by wrecking balls and too tall for that snipper machine. Too tall for a wrecking ball too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/18 "2026-08-03T02:17:12Z")
Here’s a video of old Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis being demolished by a wrecking ball in 2005. Demolition was tricky because a) it was in the heart of downtown b) the stadium was way too tall to use the tyrannosaurus claw and c) thre new stadium was already being built and part of it would occupy part of the old stadium’s footprint. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4g3TP72G8ic/maxresdefault.jpg "St. Louis says goodbye to Busch Memorial Stadium") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g3TP72G8ic) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/19 "2026-08-03T18:06:14Z")
They do sometimes “deconstruct” buildings, but as mentioned, it’s a much slower and more expensive operation. > **[Deconstruction (building)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction_(building))** > > In the context of physical construction, deconstruction is the selective dismantlement of building components, specifically for reuse, repurposing, recycling, and waste management. It differs from demolition where a site is cleared of its building by the most expedient means. Deconstruction has also been defined as "construction in reverse". Deconstruction requires a substantially higher degree of hands-on labor than does traditional demolition, but as such provides a viable platform for unskille... One of the buildings that was damaged on 9/11 had to be deconstructed this way. It was too damaged to be repaired, and quicker means of demolition were deemed too dangerous in that location. > **[Deutsche Bank Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bank_Building)** > > The Deutsche Bank Building (formerly Bankers Trust Plaza) was a 39-story office building located at 130 Liberty Street in Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the World Trade Center site. The building opened in 1974 and closed following the September 11 attacks in 2001, due to contamination that spread from the collapse of the South Tower. The structure was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, which also designed the Empire State Building. The building was purchased by Deutsche Bank when it acqu... ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099/20 "2026-08-03T18:14:31Z")
Sometimes just cranes; I guess it mainly depends on the size of the building. This used to be a Wendy’s. [![](https://www.arlnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_3426.JPG.jpg) ](https://www.arlnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_3426.JPG.jpg) And here’s a Goodwill being redeveloped for mixed retail (a new Goodwill) / low-income residential. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/J0yMtqzSoQY/maxresdefault.jpg "Goodwill on Glebe Rd is Being Demolished — Here’s What’s Replacing It (Arlington, VA)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0yMtqzSoQY) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-demolish-buildings-with-cranes-and-wrecking-balls/1032099.md?page=2)