PDC wins award for chimney demolition

Working with Erith Group on behalf of CCR Energy, PDC carried out the explosive demolition of the 156 metre-tall, 18,000-tonne stack at the former power station in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

(L-R) Host Matt Dawson with Cormac McLean and Robyn Rushforth from PDC receiving the award from Unai Berriozabal, vice president of the AEDED (Image: KHL)

The structure had stood as a prominent industrial landmark for decades, visible across the surrounding landscape, and its removal marked a significant and symbolic milestone in the transformation of the former coal-fired power station site into a new green energy park for the Cardiff Capital Region.

This job required a bespoke demolition methodology due to the specific site constraints. The chimney stood just 55 metres from the boiler house (itself scheduled for demolition as part of the wider site clearance), while live 275kV and 132kV substations were located 70 and 100 metres away respectively.

Any significant deviation during the fall or an uncontrolled collapse would have risked damaging the substations or encroaching into the area required for future works on the boiler house.

The project therefore demanded a demolition method capable of bringing down a massive structure while keeping the resulting debris footprint extremely small, predictable and well within the limited space available on site.

PDC developed a three-band telescoping method to achieve a controlled vertical implosion within a compact debris footprint.

Rather than relying on a single hinge line at the base and allowing the structure to fall in a conventional manner, the design used three distinct explosive bands positioned at carefully calculated heights to induce a controlled vertical implosion.

The chimney, the heaviest ever demolished by the company and the tallest structure felled by explosives in Wales, collapsed within 25 metres of its base.

The project was completed with zero health and safety incidents and recorded very low vibration levels at the adjacent substations. Effective crowd management was required due to significant public interest generated by statutory airspace notifications.

All arisings were processed and recycled on site, supporting the redevelopment of the former power station into a green energy park.

The judges noted the complexity of bringing down the chimney stack so close to operating substations and praised the precision of the collapse and the demanding drilling and explosive loading work at height.