A controlled explosion is the deliberate detonation of an explosive, generally as a means of demolishing a building or destroying a second
improvised or
manufactured
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...
explosive device.
Demolition
During demolition, controlled explosions can be used to collapse the exterior walls of a building inward, limiting damage to neighboring buildings. This requires careful placement of explosive charges on supports and load bearing walls.
Bomb disposal
Controlled explosions are used by bomb disposal teams to detonate a bomb at a specific time in order to limit damage to nearby structures, vehicles, and people.
The bomb may be moved to a clear location away from bystanders or buildings before detonation unless it has (or is suspected of having) an
anti-handling mechanism. If an anti-handling mechanism is found, the bomb may be left in place while the site around it is cleared. If it is not possible to clear the area or move the bomb, a containment vessel may be used to limit the damage from the explosion or transport the device to a cleared area.
Once the area is clear, a second explosive or
shaped charge
A shaped charge, commonly also hollow charge if shaped with a cavity, is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ...
is placed on the device by explosive ordinance disposal (
EOD or police bomb disposal) personnel, either manually or with a
bomb disposal robot, and detonated remotely. The controlled explosion should also detonate or disable the suspected bomb.
See also
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Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...
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Unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...
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Demolition
Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...
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DEMIRA
DEMIRA, or DEMIRA Deutsche Minenräumer e.V. (''German mine clearers''), is an international, humanitarian, non-governmental organization (NGO) registered in Germany. DEMIRA was founded in 1995 in order to provide humanitarian mine clearance, EOD ...
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EOD
References
{{Reflist
External links
BBC News summary of "controlled explosions"
Law enforcement techniques
Bomb disposal