46
MAY-JUNE 2014
d
&
ri
IN ACTION
Work is now under way to decommission the final chimney that has dominated the skyline
at the Sellafield nuclear facility in the UK. The Windscale Pile One chimney was the site
for one of the UK’s most serious nuclear incidents when pile one caught fire in 1957.
Fortunately, the high performance filter galleries that physicist John Cockcroft insisted be
fitted to the top of the two chimneys on the site – which became known as the Cockcroft’s
Follies because of the bulges they produced at the top of the already half built chimneys -
prevented much of the radioactive contamination from escaping into the local environment.
The contaminated filters were removed soon after the incident and the chimney was sealed
to allow the radiation to decay.
Last year the chimney was opened up
for the very first time in over 17 years and
the filter dismantling access gantry was
pulled apart to open the chimney to the
elements in preparation for dismantling.
The 530 tonne gallery is a large robust
structure built from steel, concrete
and brick and conventional demolition
techniques are being used to remove it.
Core drilling breaks up the concrete, with
debris manually transferred to ground level
by a small goods hoist inside the chimney.
Only 1 tonne of debris can be moved at
a time, meaning that 530 trips will be
required. The plan is that the filter gallery
will be fully dismantled by October this year
with work then starting on the removal of
the rest of the chimney structure.
A
former automotive facility in
Detroit, USA, is providing a major
undertaking for Adamo Group Inc,
a second generation demolition business
that is celebrating 50 years in the industry
this year. The company is currently engaged
on demolition work at the former American
Axle & Manufacturing Detroit Manufacturing
Complex, where it is demolishing Plants 1, 2,
4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, in addition to removing the
parking deck and powerhouse. Covering an
area of 121,000 m
2
(1.3 million ft
2
), structural
demolition follows on from the removal of
universal wastes and asbestos-containing
materials and the salvage of equipment and
recyclable ferrous and non-ferrous materials.
All the structures will be demolished down to
grade level and handed over to AAM for final
disposal.
The fact that the complex is actually
situated over the boundary of the cities of
Detroit and Hamtramck and is divided by
Holbrook Avenue means that it effectively
two separate sites, a fact that complicates the
permitting process. In addition, other plants
and facilities are remaining active on the
site during the demolition work, requiring
that utilities be re-routed before they were
Adamo’s Detroit
demolition drive
Final Sellafield chimney
begins its fall
The 530 tonne
filter gallery
on the top of
the chimney to
Windscale Pile
One has to be
removed before
the chimney itself
can be demolished
Adamo is demolishing 1.3 million ft
2
of structures at the former American Axle & Manufacturing plant in
Holbrook, Detroit
Scottish local authority Angus Council has taken
delivery of a Bell L1506E wheeled loader and
quickhitch-mounted high tip bucket for material
handling duties at its Forfar recycling plant.
Selected through a competitive tender process
over six other machines, the L1506E was shown
to offer the best value for money when taking into
account fuel efficiency, servicing and residual
value over a five year period. The machine is
fitted with Bell’s QuadCool cooling system that
fights against dust build-up to prevent the engine
from overheating. The loader has been supplied
with L5 extra heavy duty Michelin tyres with a
polyeurothene fill to protect them from punctures
and a Viby Jern high tip bucket with a centralised
greasing point to simplify servicing.
disconnected for the plants to be demolished.
Adamo is using 25 Cat, Volvo and
Sennebogen machines on the work,
including a Cat 385CL UHD high reach and
other hydraulic excavators down to a Cat
312DL, equipped with multi-processors,
grapples and shears, material handlers
for sorting duties, wheeled loaders, water
trucks and a concrete crushing plant. The
company expects to complete the contract
in early summer 2014, and anticipates that
it will recycle more than 20,000 tonnes of
ferrous, 62,000 tonnes of non-ferrous materials
and more than 12,000 tonnes of concrete.
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