The iconic cooling towers at Fiddlers Ferry Power Station have been demolished.
Specialist contractor, P.P. O’Connor Group had the job of removing the 110m towers, weighing 10,000 tonnes each at Cuerdley, Warrington, yesterday.
It took more than 200kg of explosives placed within 12,000 holes drilled throughout the structures to pull them down.
The explosives were detonated across each cooling tower 500 milliseconds apart, creating 40,000 tonnes of debris within seconds.
The concrete arisings from the blow down will be processed and recycled on the site for future development.
Demolition has been in the planning with all stakeholders since June 2023 and took place on a Sunday morning in order to cause minimal disruption to local residents and roadways.
Extensive work on planning was carried out in the lead up to the event to ensure the highest safety standards were upheld and all necessary post-blow down safety inspections took place before roads were cleaned and reopened to the public.
Charmaine O’Connor, CEO at P.P. O’Connor, said: “We are proud to have been responsible for such a prestigious demolition project which will unlock a new era for this large brownfield site.
“The project brought together a great team, who worked together with all the stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of this phase of the development.
“Removal of these cooling towers has created a new landscape for the area and we’re excited about the future masterplans of the scheme.”
The power station closed in March 2020 after nearly 50 years of operation and the site has been earmarked for housing and industrial use.
Developer, Peel NRE, submitted demolition plans to Warrington Borough Council in September 2023.
