Redcar steelworks furnace demolished

The Redcar Blast Furnace. (Photo: Teesworks)

The Redcar blast furnace - which was built in 1979 and was once said to be the second largest of its kind in Europe - had been in operation for nearly a century but closed in 2015 after the site’s owner Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK entered liquidation.

It was demolished yesterday (Wednesday 23 November, 2022) via a controlled explosion that incorporated the furnace’s associated casting houses, charge conveyors and dust catcher. 

The blow down is the latest of a number of major demolition works to be carried out at the site, which is being redeveloped to form part of a 1,821 ha (4,500 acre) manufacturing hub.

While the site’s Sinter Plant was taken down in August, last month saw Thompsons use 1.6 t of explosives to carry out the demolition of the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) plant (part of SSI Redcar steelworks).