The North East’s skyline has changed forever as Redcar’s BOS Plant was demolished in a massive controlled explosion this morning (Saturday, October 1).
Roughly 1.6 tonnes of explosives were used to bring down the steel-making plant in one of the largest single explosive demolition operations in the last 75 years.
The Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) plant on the former steelworks site in Redcar came down and The Northern Echo was there to capture the moment.
The Teesworks site is being prepared for future regeneration, with many of its old structures being demolished.
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The 65-metre building was levelled with about 1.6 tonnes of explosives.
When operational, molten iron from the Redcar blast furnace was transported to the BOS Plant via brick-lined “torpedo” tubes, where it was then refined to produce steel.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Each demolition of the former steelmaking structures on this site is a bittersweet moment as they have played such a huge part in shaping our communities, people and identity for decades.
“Ever since the SSI steelworks closure brought so much heartache to our region almost seven years ago to the day, this plant has laid dormant and unused. While we remember our past, we must never lose sight of the reason we’re doing this.
"I made a promise to build a better future for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool and today is another part of delivering upon that.
“We’re already seeing that just a few hundred yards away, with construction under way on SeAH Wind’s huge offshore wind manufacturing plant – a £400million investment already creating good-quality, well-paid jobs for local people. It’s soon to be joined by Net Zero Teesside and the 5,500 jobs that will be created just to build the £1.5billion power plant with carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
“We’re continuing to clear the way to bring more cleaner, safer and healthier industries of tomorrow, creating good-quality jobs for local people.”
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A £25million project was carried out over the past 12 months to pull down a series of large industrial shed buildings and seven tall chimney stacks that made up part of the 30-acre steelmaking facility.
Major plant items and equipment were stripped out from the facility to prepare it for demolition.
The demolition took place at 9.40am with three blasts over a seven-second period bringing the 60,000-tonne structure down.
The site is now part of Teesworks and has been cleared as part of regeneration plans by Tees Valley Mayor ben Houchen.
The South Tees Development Corporation to bring 20,000 new jobs to the site over the next 25 years.
Read next:
- Spending watchdog reviews funding used to clean up steelworks
- 25 pictures as work starts on demolition of Redcar steelworks blast furnace
- When there will be a loud bang across the North East - and why you’ll hear it
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