Demolition of stadium where Jessica Ennis-Hill trained begins

Demolition has begun on the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. The stadium will hold many memories for athletics fans and gold medal winning athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, as it is where she used to train.

The demolition of the stadium, which has been standing since 1990, was opposed by many, with a 5,922 signature petition presented in an attempt to stop it going ahead. The people opposing the demolition even stated they would continue to operate the stadium at no cost to the council. Even Jessica joined the appeal to save it:


But Sheffield Council needed to save money in the order of £50 million, and demolishing the stadium is one way for them to achieve some of those savings. Demex is handling the demolition and stated that as much recycling will be done as possible. As a large part of the stadium consists of metal, Demex's parent company CF Booth will process it and ensure it goes back into the steel industry.

Ennis-Hill may also be upset about the demolition, but she does get to keep a part of it. A section of the finish line has been excavated and given to her.

Source: BBC News

Chantry Tower demolition videos

DEMEX carried out the implosion of Chantry Tower demolition, Jordanthorpe, Sheffield a few days ago. They employed SES specialist explosive services and IndEx independent explosives engineers as the collapse designers and blaster.



IndEx's Dick Green had the following to say about the blast:

"The building was 6m from a 3 storey residential care home at the rear and roads on two sides. The 15 storey structure was brought down precisely as predicted with no damage using 25 kg of explosives spread over 600 individual charges.

Before the countdown a few words were said over the radio to commemorate Phil Lowe one of our team members and a master blaster who sadly passed away last month, Phil contributed greatly to the success of this demolition.

Phil had a ritual of urinating on a structure just prior to its demolition for good luck, with the weather conditions throughout the day I think he is continuing that practice."

Source: Demolitionnews