40
MARCH-APRIL 2015
d
&
ri
SITE REPORT
Hewent on: “theboiler househas to
comedownbeforewe canblow the chimney
since theplan is for the latter to fall across
the siteof the coreplant. The clearance
anddemolitionof the turbinehall is now
completed,moreor less. The roof is next then
weprepare thebunker bays bypreweakening
them and taking the steel out andwewill then
pull them into the turbinehall.Wewill then
clear the estimated15,000 tonnes of steel and
at the same timeprepare the boiler house,
whichwill endup in the sameplace. By then,
theprecipitators should alsohave gone.”
Thenorth set of cooling towerwill pose
amajor challenge. They are scheduled to
be implodedonce the coreplant has been
cleared. Coleman faces twomain complicating
factors in successfully completing this phase
of theproject. Access toone sideof the towers
is restricteddue to thepresenceof great
crestednewts, aprotected species in theUK,
and in addition, they are in closeproximity
to an electricity sub-station. As a result, their
implosionhas tobe timedwithin a 30day
period in2016when the substationwill be
shut down for routinemaintenance.
In terms of completionof the full project,
John told
D&Ri
: “In aperfectworld itwould
have beennice to finishby themiddle of 2016
but in reality itwill be the endof that year.
The challengeswe facewith thenorth set of
towers are such thatwe canprepare them
for blasting this year but access restrictions
mean that itwill benext year before they can
beblown. And then there is the chimney [the
tallest structure on the site] thatwill alsohave
to comedown.”
As discussed above, the implosionof the
south towers proved amajor draw for the
local population, but Johnbelieves thenorth
setwill be less so. “The towers are so far into
the site that youwill not really see anything
from thepublic roads – theywill however see
theboilerhousewhenwedo that.Whenwedo
the 200m chimney– thatwill be thebigone
in terms of a spectator draw. It canbe seen
from far around, from theM40motorway and
theA32 road, sopeople arebound togather
for its implosion.”
Whatwas obvious throughoutwas the
quiet confidence of the entireColeman team
that theywould successfully complete the
demolitionwith relative ease, despite the
challenges that the large and awkwardplant
and structures have thrown at them.
■
Coleman still has a considerable volume of power
station plant and ancillaries to be removed
The three remaining cooling towers to the
north of the site – the proximity of the
electrical substation is clear to see
