Demolition Dudes: Meet the men who will bring down Supertech’s twin towers

Noida: Supertech’s 32-storey buildings Ceyanne and Apex — popularly called the twin towers — will come down cascading like a waterfall on 28 August, scripting history. It is India’s biggest demolition project ever.

The dangerous feat has been planned and will be executed by Edifice Engineering and their South African partners Jet Demolitions, both entities having had made their names in a rather destructive enterprise.

Firstpost brings to you the men who will make this happen.

Uncle Joe

That’s how he is called out of love, his given name being Joseph Robert Brinkkman. The 62-year-old is literally the ‘head’ of the entire operation and the ‘master blaster’. He moved with his wife from the US to South Africa in 1980s and started Jet Demolitions in 1994.

USP: He is the man who decided down to the last milligram as to how much and what kind of explosives would be rigged into the over 9000 holes drilled across the length and breadth of the buildings.

The man climbs up the 32 floors on foot!

Kevin Smit

He is the senior site manager at the twin towers. Originally, a civil engineer, Smit was smitten by the sight of a petrochemical plant coming down. He shifted to demolition and joined Jet in 2012.

USP: The man climbs up the 32 floors faster than the lift! “The elevator takes 17 minutes to reach the top. I’m quicker,” HT quoted Smit as saying.

Marthinus Botha

He is the chief safety officer and the blast coordinator.

USP: He is the one responsible for ensuring safety at demolition sites.\

Ian Ehlers

He is the group’s designated photographer, videographer and video editor who captures it all.

USP: Planning, scheduling and detailing are his forte, as per a HT report. He is the one to decide what will be done when and how, says the report.

Elias Nthidi

He has mastered all demolition machines. According to the HT report, there is not one demolition machine that Nthidi can’t operate.

USP: They all love cricket!

Nolan Klyenhans

“Biggest, tallest and strongest,” is how the HT report describes Nolan’s mates describing him. He is on the job when Smit is not.

USP: He is the “wrapping” expert. Wrapping refers to the science and art of wrapping the building to be demolished with “geotextile fabric” that stops dust and blast debris from flying out in the open.

Peterus Mathebula

He is devoted to execution of the demolition on the ground.

Uttkarsh Mehta-Jigar Chheda

The two are partners at Edifice Engineering and the pivot of India’s biggest demolition project. The two started the company in 2012 and have since then demolished some 1500 structures, including the famous Maradu blasts in Kochin.

Their three biggest projects before twin towers:

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Stadium (now Narendra Modi Stadium), Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Apartments in Maradu, Kochin, Kerala

Structures in Telangana Secretariat complex, Hyderabad, Telangana