Photo by Steve Crane
If everything goes according to plan,the two cooling towers at the old Athlone power station will be demolished on Sunday 30 May 2010. Stabilising rings around one of the towers fell to the ground on Sunday 14 Feb. 2010 and engineers have recommended that the towers be demolished as soon as possible.
The event is planned in such a way to give residents the opportunity to view the demolition from a safe distance. Surrounding roads are likely to be closed with Metro Police,South African Police Services,Traffic and Emergency services on hand to ensure everyone’s safety.
Alderman Justus,Mayoral Committee Member,explained that the tower site houses electricity transformers and also a water reticulation system to cool down the transformers. The City would have to take care in the demolition process not to affect this cooling system or the operation of the transformers to ensure a constant supply of electricity to consumers.
Electricity generation on the site was stopped in 2002 and there was no plans for any future generation on site. A decision to decommission the site was taken in 2006.
A range of preliminary scenarios for the redevelopment of the entire Athlone power station site were submitted to Council’s Utilities Portfolio Committee in October 2009. Various options have been offered including educational,commercial and residential facilities on site.
By demolishing the towers,an additional eight hectares of land would be made available for the redevelopment.
Has this happened yet? I haven’t seen any news about it.
There was great urgency to bring them down due to safety concerns. Someone must be less concerned now because they are still standing!