Containing debris and providing a safe worksite were the key goals of the Despe Top-Down demolition system, a self-contained, six-story metal cocoon that can hydraulically lower itself around a tower as the structure is demolished floor by floor. But when Despe Managing Director Stefano Panseri was approached by a New York City steel erector that wondered if the cocoon could go up instead of down, he and his team rose to the engineering challenge.
Stefano Panseri
Torre dé Roveri, Italy
ENR 12/11/17 p. 8
Engineer adapts tower-demolition cocoon for a tower-construction job, accelerating the project and improving safety.