City Orders Halt to Blasting Near West Coast Wagon Factory
A contractor’s use of dynamite to excavate an addition to the West Coast wagon factory triggered alarm and complaints of structural damage from neighbors.
The story, cleaned up
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C. D. Elmore, who is excavating for Pete Sandberg's underground addition to the West Coast wagon factory building, has been ordered by the city authorities to stop the work. Elmore was using dynamite to loosen the earth, and after several blasts had been set off under the building, the occupants complained to the authorities. The blasts shook the walls of the building so much that it was feared serious damage might result. The work will be resumed, but without the use of dynamite.
“The blasts shook the walls of the building so much that it was feared serious damage might result.”
Building codes and public safety ordinances remain central to Tacoma’s urban development today, though contractors generally rely on heavy machinery rather than dynamite to break ground near busy city intersections.
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