EXPLOSIVES DEMOLITION | Full Video of the Mandarin Oriental Implosion

Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI), of Phoenix, Maryland, USA, acting as explosives subcontractor to The BG Group, LLC (BG Group), of Delray Beach, Florida, successfully completed the explosives implosion of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel complex located on Brickell Key in Miami, Florida. Originally developed by Swire Properties as part of their three-decade transformation of Brickell Key, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel opened in 2000. The site is now being redeveloped into a new flagship property featuring a 66-story residential South Tower and a 33-story mixed-use residential and hotel North Tower. The project involved the design, preparation, and execution of the explosives felling of the 450,000-square-foot, 23-story, 244-foot-tall Mandarin Oriental Hotel, an unbonded-tendon, post-tensioned reinforced concrete structure, along with the adjacent 6-story, post-tensioned parking garage and ballroom facility. Following the hotel’s closure in May 2025, BG Group completed approximately four months of site clearing operations. After an extensive evaluation of demolition methodologies, CDI’s implosion approach was selected and approved by the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. The use of implosion significantly reduced the risks associated with dismantling an unbonded-tendon structure and disruption to the surrounding community by more than one year. Prior to the implosion, BG Group completed environmental remediation in accordance with regulatory agency requirements, removed furniture, fixtures, and equipment, and soft-stripped the structures down to their reinforced concrete frames. BG Group crews modified shear walls in the structure per CDI design, while CDI crews drilled over 2,769 holes for placement of over 2,800 lbs. of explosives. The implosion was successfully executed on the morning of April 12, 2026. Vibration monitoring conducted at ten (10) locations surrounding the site recorded peak particle velocity and peak air overpressure levels consistent with low-level estimates provided by a third-party geotechnical consultant, based on both historic and project-specific data. All recorded values were well below limits established by local, state, and federal regulations.