22 August named as the date Cape Town cooling towers will come down.
After extensive consultation and planning, South Africa’s Athlone cooling towers are to be demolished on Sunday 22 August 2010 at 12:00.
Both towers, which are nearly 20 years old, form part of the decommissioned Athlone coal-fired power station and have become unsafe following the collapse of the strengthening rings around one of them in February. They now need to be demolished in the interests of public safety.
The City’s Disaster Risk Management team is monitoring wind speeds, which could cause the towers to collapse, on a daily basis and has a plan in place should they become excessive.
It was decided last week that the towers will come down on Sunday 22 August, as this is a realistic date by which all safety measures can be in place and by when Jet Demolition indicated they will have all their preparation work for the demolition completed. The demolition is not weather dependent and can go ahead even if it rains on the day.
Various City Departments have worked together closely to ensure the demolition will be safe for the public, the surrounding areas and City services.
All the required permits and approvals have been obtained and the necessary site preparation is underway, with particular attention being given to the protection of existing services and safety of both the public and workers involved.
Read more here.
