A pair of World War II-era buildings at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne were imploded this morning, coming down in just seconds.

The 150-acre site was once part of the U.S. Military Ocean Terminal which operated from 1942 to 1999. 

At one time, all types of cargo – from heavy, outsized weapons such as the M1A2 tank and the Patriot missile, to the full range of munitions available to fighting forces – could be loaded by Bayonne's specially-trained unionized work force.

“They were built to withstand a bombing,” said Joel Bergstein, of Lincoln Equities Group. “In order to take these buildings down, it requires 10,000 tons of TNT.”

The site is being redeveloped for an 887,000 square-foot UPS distribution facility.

“It’s progress. We’re talking 1,800 jobs just from UPS coming to this area for people of Bayonne and the surrounding area,” says Bayonne Mayor James Davis.

A total of 1.4 million square feet is in the process of being developed at the site.