BEIJING, Oct. 21 -- Siping Mansion, which was one of the city's tallest buildings in the 1980s, was demolished early yesterday morning to make way for a new metro line.

    The 14-story-building in Yangpu District, was constructed in 1980 at the intersection of Siping Road and Dalian Road.
The building was demolished at 5am yesterday by four consecutive implosions over about 10 seconds.

    Before the implosion, several hundred nearby residents were temporarily relocated to nearby hotels to spend Wednesday night.

    According to Shanghai Tongji Demolition Engineering Company, more than 400 tons of explosives were used and the exterior wall of some nearby residential buildings were wrapped in bamboo for protection.

    Engineers said since the building was located in the busiest area of Yangpu, they did much more preparation work than normal demolition projects.

    "The area where Siping Mansion was located will be turned into a major subway hub over the next few years," said Chen Youhua, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau.

    The station will be part of the No. 8 Metro line, connecting Yangpu with People's Square and Pudong.

    "This metro line will play an important transportation role for the World Expo 2010," Chen said.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily news)