Silverdome detonation turns out to be a dud

The Pontiac Silverdome as it appeared during a game between the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams in October 2001.

Credit: Tom Pidgeon

Credit: Tom Pidgeon

The Pontiac Silverdome as it appeared during a game between the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams in October 2001.

The Pontiac Silverdome was supposed to implode Sunday morning, but the detonation turned out to be a dud.

Officials with Detroit-based Adamo Group, the demolition company in charge of bringing down the former home of the Detroit Lions and the host of Super Bowl XVI, said the explosion weakened the Silverdome, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The structure could still fall, but the timetable is uncertain.

Rick Cuppetilli, executive vice president with Adamo, said 10 percent of the explosive charges failed to go off due to wiring issues, the Free Press reported.

“Unless we find something in the next few hours researching the wiring, we will take it down mechanically,” Cuppetilli said. “We haven't found the wire yet. It's going to take us a while to research it all.”

Excavators will be used this week to take out the structure unless gravity causes it to fall on its own before then, Cuppetilli said.

So far, there are no plans for a second explosion attempt, the Free Press reported.