Biggest concrete structure in the UK is demolished

The Grain A power station chimney in Kent has become the biggest concrete structure in the UK to be demolished.

The Grain power station chimney standing at 801ft was two and half times taller than Big Ben took place at 11am on Wednesday morning, reducing the structure to 40,000 tonnes of concrete rubble and dust.

The demolition project started in April 2014 and has seen five demolitions carried out to remove the main infrastructure of the power plant.

Since demolition work began on the project, over 84,000 tonnes of material has been removed from the site to be recycled, with work set to continue until the end of the year.

The Grain A power station was opened 37 years ago in 1979 and was capable of generating enough electricity to provide power for over a million homes.

The plant was closed in December 2012 under the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive.

Energy company, Uniper, has utilised the existing infrastructure at Grain A to build a new 1,275MW gas-fired power station on the same location.

The site will continue to generate electricity for homes and businesses.

Speaking ahead of the demolition, Uniper’s Head of Demolition, Neil Riley, commented: “We’ve now reached the final controlled demolition at Grain Power Station.

“As is always the case, the health and safety of the public and our colleagues is our number one priority and the blow down of the chimney is the culmination of months of detailed planning with our contractors and local stakeholders.

“The timings for the demolition have also been carefully planned to ensure any impact on the local community is kept to a minimum.”

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here

The post Biggest concrete structure in the UK is demolished appeared first on UK Construction Online.