Backfill: Boom! Boom! Out Go the Lights

Talk about going out with a bang! The 12-story, 110-room Deauville Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., was demolished in 1985 to make room for the expansion of the Tropicana Casino. Two hundred fifty charges were set off in eight explosions over four seconds. The explosives were set by a Maryland-based company, Controlled Demolition, Inc. The only casualty was a 125-foot section of boardwalk. These 14 photos, shot by Robert Lemon, a construction official in Egg Harbor, N.J., span only 11 seconds. ? Boom! Boom! Out Go the Lights Backfill by John D. Wagner JLC · DECEMBER 1989 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14