Sponsored by
Watch online: Towers are going, going .... and finally gone
ONE PIECE of Sheffield's iconic Tinsley cooling towers was left standing after an operation to demolish them failed to go to plan.
A large piece of masonry was still teetering over the Tinsley Viaduct which carries the M1 motorway after two huge explosions which were supposed to reduce both towers to rubble.
Around 12,000 people packed into the car parks of the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre and for a heart-stopping moment many believed that part of one tower had fallen onto the carriageway.
But as the dust cleared it became apparent that the nitro-glycerin charges had failed to destroy part of one tower.
A spokeswoman for owner E.ON said that both towers had been fully demolished by 5.20am.
The Highways Agency closed the M1 from midnight last night and hope to reopen it later today.
E.ON spokeswoman Emily Highmore said: "The towers are completely down now and the demolition has been carried out as planned. The site is now completely safe.
"One tower came down completely as expected and then there was about one third of the other one left standing, but angled away from the viaduct, as the demolition experts designed it to.
"People were looking at it saying are we supposed to be able to see it, but the demolition crew went to the site and manipulated what remained so that it has now completely come down."
The motorway reopened at 6pm.
YP photos by Chris Lawton.
To order online, click the link>>
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
