The planned demolition at PotashCorp’s vacant Cassidy Lake mine building near Norton, N.B., did not go ahead Saturday.
The building ceased operation in the early 1990s due to flooding. The demolition was planned for 8 a.m. Saturday. More than 100 people from the surrounding areas were there to watch.
One explosion was heard and smoke rose from the building, but it didn’t fall.
“Upon investigation after the fact, it was noted that about 50 per cent of the linear shape charges, which are used to cut structural support beams, failed to activate and that was the reason the building stayed up,” said PotashCorp’s general foreman Steve Wilson.
There were about 200 charges placed on the building, but Wilson said about 100 of them were faulty. Some of the beams were damaged and blown out, but not enough to cause an implosion.
Wilson said the site has been sealed off. Structural engineers will be brought in on Monday to evaluate the building and a plan will be made for a second demolition at that time.
More to come.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford
