NEW ORLEANS —
The only sound in downtown New Orleans Tuesday was the sound of progress at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Some people stopped to watch the work as a torch was used to slowly slice through the crane that has been impaled in North Rampart Street since dynamite took it down in October.
Last week, crews began to set the stage for more intense demolition.
Large timbers were placed on the ground as a place for large equipment to sit, and demolition crews began to tear down the first of three buildings that need to be cleared away before major deconstruction can happen.
Norma Jean Mattei, an engineering professor at UNO, said that once that happens, the next step should be even more obvious.
“We’ll start seeing some of those pancaked sections on the Rampart side, they’ll probably start there because they really want to get any of those pieces that are not stable,” she said.
A spokesman for 1031 Canal Development, the Hard Rock’s owner, said the demolition plan is still on schedule. It’s expected to be done by October, a year after the deadly collapse.
The ultimate goal is to get out two bodies of workers still buried in the rubble.
But it’s a job that can only happen piece by piece.
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