Falling buildings

[MemoryTale]

So short story shorter, there's a scene in my WIP when my police officer character is trying to direct human traffic away from a building that's in danger of falling down. I see the building as being ten floors high, which according to a calculator I'm using means it should be around 50.7 meters high.

So my question is for any demolition experts here, how big a cordon would he need?

 

[RX-79G]

There isn't an exact answer, because buildings don't "fall" the same way. The police would want to insure that no one was hurt by ruble or flying glass, so I would imagine they would evacuate at least 2-3 blocks in every direction.

A story is between 3 and 4 meters, so a ten story building would top out at 40 meters.

 

[Stable]

There isn't an exact answer, because buildings don't "fall" the same way. The police would want to insure that no one was hurt by ruble or flying glass, so I would imagine they would evacuate at least 2-3 blocks in every direction.

A story is between 3 and 4 meters, so a ten story building would top out at 40 meters.

It could be taller if you use the counting system that goes Ground Floor, 1, 2, etc., then have a loft or roof space. Either way, it probably won't make a whole block's difference to the question

 

[Phyrebrat]

Research demolition guidelines instead. That should give you a sense of minimum safe distance which you can apply to your police.

pH

 

[MemoryTale]

Thanks for the advice guys. Incidentally I find it hilarious that someone named Stable has commented on a thread about falling buildings

 

[Stable]

The nickname was originally given to me ironically, so it may be more appropriate than you thought!

 

[Theophania Elliott]

If you're interested in why buildings fall down, I recommend Why Buildings Fall Down: Why Structures Fail by Matthys Levy & Mario Salvadori. It won't tell you where to stand, but it gives you valuable background, and it's also just a really interesting read. If you like civil engineering.

Apparently, the lead author wrote Why Buildings Stand Up (which I have not yet read) and presented a copy to his mother, who said, "Yes, dear, very nice, but I would have been more interested in reading about why they fall down."

So he wrote that.