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Demolition Contractor – DSM
Explosives Contractor – Specialist Explosive Services
Blow down demolition of eight cooling towers at a decommissioned coal fired station in North Yorkshire. These works were part of the overall demolition of Eggborough Power Station which was decommissioned in 2018.
The demolition of the site has been split into various stages. Another notable aspect being the 12,000 tonne bunker bay which was demolished on the 6th of March 2022. AEC were also involved in the demolition engineering for this aspect of the site.
Cooling Tower Demolition
The cooling towers were demolished in two sets of four. The first set was blown down in August 2021 and the second set was blown down in October 2021.
Demolition of the towers received significant media attention with local and national coverage. The video of the demolition was carried amongst others by Sky News, Reuters and The Sun.
Andun Engineering Consultants provided the demolition engineering for the demolition which was split into two phases.
Phase 1 – Clear internal structure
The first phase was the design and analysis to prove that a diagonal column and part of a lower wall could be removed to allow plant inside the structure.
They would then strip out the grillage/cribbage that sits inside the structure that water rusover as part of the cooling process of the tower.
Phase 2 – Pre-Weakening Analysis & Test Blast
The second phase was the pre-weakening of the structure and demonstrating the explosive methodology.
Special Explosive Services conducted test blasts to demonstrate the amount of explosive to weaken the shell sufficiently.
This involved using a small part of the structure to demonstrate they have the correct amount of explosive and how it will fragment. As well as the suitability of the proposed protection.
This was particularly important as the towers had been strengthened as a layer of grout and mesh had been added so the impact needed to be tested