VIDEO: Is blasting like surgery? Understanding the safety, precision of controlled explosions

We think the comparison works best only in one direction.

If a doctor comes to you and explains his surgery is going to be like an explosion, be anxious. But when a construction manager says an explosion is going to be like surgery, that’s different and definitely more comforting.

Lucky for us, Bob’s the construction manager, not the surgeon.

We are using controlled blasting to excavate access shafts along our Euclid Creek Tunnel, a major piece of our Project Clean Lake program. This video was shot during a blast last week at our Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cleveland. Bob Auber explains what the shaft does, why blasting is the safest and most economical way to make our way 200 feet underground, and the precision he’s seen over 25 years that made him compare the excavation to surgery.

Related: Mackenzie completes her 18,000-foot underground journey