Last Updated on August 31, 2022 by Admin
Following a ruling from the Supreme Court of India, the Supertech Twin Towers in Noida, commonly known as the Noida Twin Towers and considered the tallest building in India, was torn down on Sunday, August 28, 2022. This article discusses the lesson to be learned in Demolition Theory of Civil Engineering about the Noida Supertech Twin Tower and its destruction.
Supertech, the project’s developer, has lost close to Rs 1,000 crore due to the Emerald Court project’s demolition in Noida. The building’s demolition cost close to 20 crore rupees.
The twin towers, Apex and Ceyane, are situated in Noida’s Sector 93A. One of the structures is 103 meters high, and another is about 97 meters high. The two towers are part of the Noida housing society known as “Supertech Emerald Court,” originally planned to be erected in 2004.
A 48,263 square meter block of land that was a part of Plot No. 4 in Sector 93A was granted by the Noida Authority. 3,700 kg of explosives were brought from Palwal (Haryana) to be utilized in the destruction. It was composed of plastic explosives, emulsions, and dynamite.
For all civil engineers and those interested in civil engineering, the Supertech Twin Towers is the ideal case study.
These towers are being dismantled and are considered India’s tallest structures. Everyone can benefit from this example in the future when determining what legal safeguards should be taken during building.
Additionally, the fastest example of civil engineering will be how to demolish the tallest tower in seconds.
Learn everything there is to know about the Noida Supertech Twin Tower and its destruction now:
Table of Contents
Introduction of Noida Supertech Twin Tower
Supertech Limited, a real estate development company, based in Noida, began work on the Emerald Court project. Midway through the 2000s, the project was launched. The project called for constructing 3, 4, and 5 BHK apartments.
The project was situated away from the expressway that connects Noida and Greater Noida, the twin cities. Real estate websites indicate that the flats are now valued between Rs. 1 crore and Rs. 3 crore.
The project’s blueprints, submitted by the Noida-based New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, were for 14 towers with nine stories.
The issues arose as a result of Supertech changing the blueprints, which, by 2012, resulted in a complex of 15 buildings rather than 14. There were now 11 stories in each building, unlike the previous nine.
Additionally, two additional towers with a combined height of 40 storeys were incorporated into the revised proposal. In the ten-year legal dispute between the residents and Supertech, the latter two became its focal point.
In front of Tower One, Supertech had pledged to have a “green” space. This was in the plan initially changed in June 2005, according to the court records presented up until December 2006.
Later, the “green” area would serve as the foundation for Ceyane and Apex, the Twin Towers at the center of the controversy.
March 2012 saw the third change to the construction plans. Since Ceyane and Apex’s heights were increased from 24 to 40 floors, Emerald Court now consists of 15 towers with 11 storeys each.
Noida twin towers’ road to 28th August’s demolition
The Apex building, the taller of the two buildings at 103 meters, will be the tallest structure to come down in India.
On August 28, 2022, at 2.30 pm, a blast is expected to go off, shattering the towers in 9 seconds and bringing them down in around 15 seconds.
Ceyane stands at 94 meters. It contained studio units as opposed to more extensive flats at Apex.
The twin towers’ collapse will produced about 80,000 tons of debris. It will take three months to remove and probably be 15 meters high or a four-story skyscraper.
By 7am, all 7,000 inhabitants of Emerald Court, where the twin towers are situated, and the nearby ATS Greens Village are expected to have been evacuated.
To engineer the fall in a stack, floors have been divided into primary (explosives in every column) and secondary (explosives in 40% of columns). Originally intended to be 40-story structures, Apex and Ceyane were only constructed up to the 32nd floor.
The twin towers’ columns have been wrapped in geotextile material to stop debris from flying around, and it has also been used to cover nearby buildings to protect them from projectiles.
9,642 holes with an average length of 2. 2 meters have been drilled into the columns to store the explosives.
An Rs. 100 crore insurance policy was purchased to cover potential damages to nearby structures caused by the twin towers’ destruction.
Jet Demolition is a South African corporation in charge of the blast’s technical aspects. The organization hired to demolish the towers, Edifice Engineering, is one of its partners.
The blaster Chetan Dutta will be crucial to the detonation. The explosives will actually be linked to a switch immediately before the explosion, which will be what causes the switch to open.
On August 22, the 3,700kg of explosives that had been charged into the towers had been loaded.
The demolition explosives were refurbished at a magazine in Palwal, Haryana, and transported to the site by a van while being escorted by police.
The Supreme Court criticized the Noida Authority, branding it a “corrupt organization,” for approving the building of the twin towers.
The 187-day operation to get the twin buildings ready for demolition got underway on February 21.
A problem is a pollution. When the buildings fall, a cloud of dust will be released. The neighborhood and places beyond it will also experience a settling of the dust. The environmental control board must be vigilant.
The nearby Emerald Court towers’ structural soundness has been the focus of safety concerns. Aster-2, the closest, is only 9 meters away from Apex.
Impact cushions have been created in the basement using debris and mud, and 12-foot-long ditches have been constructed to hold the debris after the collapse and dampen ground vibrations.
To reduce ground vibrations, steel containers with rubble have been placed between Apex and nearby Emerald Court structures like Aster-2.
Trunking, which involved connecting all the charges placed on floors, was the final step in preparing the towers for the explosion. The elevator was likewise taken apart in the last phase.
A 4-meter-deep underground pipeline that transports gas to east Delhi and Noida is situated only 16 meters from the towers. Steel plates and berms of protection have been placed on top of it.
The destruction is not likely to cause harm to neighbor structures, according to a vibration impact analysis commissioned by Edifice. There would only be “some very minor cosmetic damage,” such as plaster cracks.
The Apex weighs 41,720 tons. With 18,150 tons, Ceyane represents less than half of that.
Since the demolition of this size, let alone in a neighborhood full of structures, has never been attempted in India before, Xfactor is still standing.
Residents of Emerald Court agree that the twin towers should be destroyed, despite their concerns about harm to their structures.
Zeal is an overall one. That carried the legal dispute led by the RWA of Emerald Court through both the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court.
Why are Noida’s Supertech twin towers being demolished?
On August 28, Supertech’s illegal twin buildings in Noida will be destroyed. They were loaded with over 3,700 kg of explosives. The towers surpass Delhi’s Qutub Minar in height and will be India’s tallest buildings to be destroyed.
The builders will demolish the 40-story twin structures at their own expense by Supreme Court rulings. 915 apartments are located in the twin towers Apex (32 stories) and Ceyane (29 stories). But why were the ambitious Supertech twin skyscrapers demolished?
According to the Supreme Court, the Twin Towers have broken several building regulations. The Noida Authority sanctioned the building proposal, sources said. 14 buildings with 9 stories were initially intended to be constructed. Later, in or around 2012, a new proposal called for twin skyscrapers with 40 stories.
When the society’s Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) petitioned the Allahabad High Court with complaints about the building, Supertech found itself in difficulties. The builders were told to destroy the twin towers and return the money paid by the customers by the Allahabad High Court in 2014. Later, in 2021, the Supreme Court blocked this order.
Will flat buyers be refunded?
The Supreme Court has guaranteed homebuyers that they will get a complete return of the money they deposited with the builder. According to a PTI report, the supreme court also ordered the firm’s Interim Resolution Professional (IRP), dealing with insolvency proceedings, to deposit Rs. 1 crore with the supreme court registry.
Process of Demolishing Supertech Twin Towers in Noida
Today’s enormous explosion destroyed the Supertech twin towers in Noida. The nine-year legal dispute over the two towers between Supertech Emerald Court homeowners in Sector 93A and the realtor ended with the detonation, which lasted roughly nine seconds.
After the demolition is complete, the Noida authorities’ next issue will be to clean up the massive number of debris created. According to officials involved in the operation, about 55,000 tons of debris were expected to be produced. The cleanup process could take up to three months. At predetermined locations, the rubbish will be dropped.
Even hours before the explosion, the area had been secured, and precautions had been taken to guard against the blast’s impact on nearby buildings. There were plans made for traffic reroutes, and emergency procedures were established.
With more than 3,700 kg of explosives, the two towers were wired. Nearly 7,000 holes were cut into the building pillars, and 20,000 circuits were set before explosives were placed. According to the “waterfall technique,” the explosion made the towers fall straight away.
Approximately 7,000 locals were evicted this morning. Gas and electricity supply to the neighboring buildings has been shut off. Residents will be permitted to return by 5.30 p.m. once they have been restored by 4 p.m. When residents are permitted back into their houses, police have encouraged them to protect themselves from the dust by donning masks.
Within the 450-meter no-go area, all traffic on the Greater Noida Expressway has been stopped. This morning, officials announced that traffic flow would be halted for 30 minutes, with 15 minutes on either side of the explosion, from 2.15 to 2.45.
Some neighboring structures are only 8 meters from the twin towers. Within a 12-meter circle, there are others. To reduce dust penetration, a unique cloth has been placed over them. A one nautical mile no-fly zone has been established over the area.
A 100-crore insurance policy covered the demolition project. If there is any damage to nearby structures, this ought should cover it. Supertech is required to pay the premium as well as any additional expenses. Although the demolition effort may cost up to 20 crore rupees, the loss of the towers, even in their skeletal form, is estimated to be more than 50 crore rupees.
The two towers were to be destroyed, and Edifice Engineering, a business in Mumbai, was given the job. The Central Building Research Institute and the Noida authorities collaborated with the company, which has performed similar demolitions abroad, to bring down the skyscrapers.
In each tower, the builder intended to put up 40 stories. Due to court rulings, several floors could not be constructed, but some were manually dismantled before the explosion. The Apex tower, one of the towers, now has 32 floors. The opposite has 29. Ceyane is 97 meters tall, compared to Apex’s 103 meters. Two-thirds of the 900+ flats to be built have already been reserved or sold. The Supreme Court has ordered the developer to provide customers who purchased apartments in the building a refund plus interest.
After a 9-year legal fight, the twin towers are being destroyed. After these towers were permitted as a part of a revised building plan, residents of the Supertech Emerald Court society relocated to a new location in 2012. They said that the towers were erected where a garden had originally been intended. When illegalities in permissions were discovered, certain officials were disciplined. In 2014, the Allahabad High Court issued a demolition order. The Supreme Court then heard the case. The towers were supposed to be demolished by last August, but due to technical issues, it took a year.
Lessons learned from Supertech’s ‘illegal’ twin towers
For architects and government authorities, the twin towers of Supertech’s deconstruction carry numerous lessons. Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of the Noida Authority, stated in an interview with PTI that adhering to the rules established by the government and courts is essential.
Additionally, she warned government personnel not to engage in criminal activity for fear of being prosecuted, just like the 26 Noida Authority officials involved in the project.
Maheshwari claimed that the Supertech incident also prompted the Noida Authority to review regulations and tighten up the way floor area ratio (FAR) payments are made to developers to avoid such occurrences in the future.
“The Noida Authority and this administration make ongoing efforts to guarantee that work is carried out transparently and accountable. Additionally, all new projects and efforts should be undertaken with the advantage of the general public in mind to ensure that everyone benefits from them, “she added.
