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 this morning. They touched off the blast about 7:30 a.m., after closing the streets around the Metrodome and cordoning off a safety area in the neighborhood.

The explosive demolition went off without a hitch, according to Mortenson Construction vice president John Wood. The blast was meant to bring down only the upper ring of the structure, after an expected collapse as that was being demolished last week. "It was a complete success. It is laying on the ground," Wood said. "That was mission accomplished... It went exactly as planned."

Wood said the crew removed 24 columns within the building using 84 charges of conventional dynamite.

Mortenson called in the explosives experts after work was halted by the partial collapse on Monday, Wood said:

It's the second time demolition crews have 

. They took out the cables that held up the roof with explosives on Feb. 2.

Don't count on any more, Wood said. "We think this will be the last use of explosives in the demolition process. From this point forward, it should be a pretty conventional approach."

Tim Nelson

Author

Explosives brought down the house at the Metrodome.

Video: Explosion brings down Metrodome’s ‘ring beam’

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