Early morning blast draws Belville Street demolitions to a close.
Safedem has completed the series of controlled explosive demolitions it started in Belville Street, Greenock back in 2013 when the company felled three similar blocks.
Despite having imploded three identical blocks, the latest blast was not without its challenges. A historic church with significant stained glass windows was located nearby; a five storey block was just 12 metres away while a railway line was just 18 metres away. To cap it all, live water, sewers and gas mains were all located within 10 metres
“The biggest challenge was the duration of the operation. We had the exclusion zone up from 10 am Saturday to 10 am Sunday, a 24 hour shift, in horrendous conditions. Over 5 inches of rain fell in a Greenock during the period with extensive local flooding , it never let up all night,” says Safedem managing director William Sinclair. “The plaudits on this project must go to every single team member that endured the relentless deluge. The Safedem team, along with the sentries from our long term security partner Specialized Security, and the officers from Police Scotland did an incredible job manning the exclusion zone. No doubt spirits were kept high by the excellent hot soup and provisions supplied by local catering business Riverside Cafe, who looked after us really well.”
