Three disused cooling towers at Didcot A Power Station are set for demolition in the early hours of Sunday.
Three disused cooling towers at Didcot A Power Station have been demolished using more than 180kg of explosives.
The explosion, which will flatten 36,000 tonnes of material between 03:00 and 05:00 BST, is expected to last less than a minute.
The explosion, which flattened 36,000 tonnes of material, lasted less than a minute and was streamed live online by Demolition firm Coleman and Company.
Demolition firm Coleman and Company have anticipated huge interest and set up a live stream for the event.
Hundreds of people arrived at the site to watch the towers come down despite warnings of a huge dust cloud.
The firm said it was aware the towers had "been part of life in the local area for many years".
The decision to carry out the demolition before sunrise has been criticised by some residents.
It also warned the dust cloud caused by the demolition could be blown up to half a mile (0.8km) from the site.
Mark Coleman, managing director of Coleman and Company, tweeted: #DidcotDemolition well done to all involved. A professional textbook job. Thank you to all the locals. I hope you enjoyed it #teamwork
Spectators have been advised to stay away from the "difficult to access" site and watch the event online instead.
For those determined to witness the event, Earth Trust is opening its car park at Wittenham Clumps to visitors from midnight on Saturday.
First Great Western is also offering free parking at its Foxhall Road car park from midnight.
Demolition in darkness
The explosion will take place before sunrise, which will occur at 05:20 BST.
Residents wanting the explosion to take place in the daylight "for everyone to see" had set up a Facebook page and petition, which received 700 signatures.
But Guy Esnouf, NPower's director of communications, said experts including the Health and Safety Executive, Thames Valley Police and Network Rail had advised an early time.
He said: "We have 180kg of high explosives. That is an awful lot and you clearly don't want people and explosives near together. Safety has to come first."
Following the explosion a clean up operation will start to clear the area of dust, including the nearby railway line.
Network Rail said it been assured by energy company RWE NPower, which runs the site, that "the railway line can reopen safely at 07:00".
Artistic inspiration
Homes and gardens being covered in dust had caused concern among some local residents living in nearby Foxhall Manor Park.
But Kieran Conarty from Coleman and Company said there would be "a series of jet washes to clean footpaths, buildings, roofs".
"Behind that there will be a series of road sweepers and behind that will be a series of operatives literally picking up the pieces."
RWE NPower closed the coal-fired facility in March 2013 after 43 years of service.
The power station is widely known as a famous landmark in the area.
Aside from its functional role, it has been subject of aesthetic criticism and has inspired poetry, film and art.
An ecclesiastical painting, Menorah by Roger Wagner depicts Christ's crucifixion set against the cooling towers of Didcot Power Station - the chimney and towers representing the seven-branched ceremonial Jewish candlestick, the menorah.
The power station inspired Ode to Didcot Power Station by Sir Tim Rice for the musical Three More Men in a Boat.
But the site has not been designated by English Heritage as a listed site.
The organisation said: "Hyperbolic cooling towers stand out as the iconic symbol of the coal-fired power industry.
"Whilst as a building type they [Didcot towers] are of undeniable structural and aesthetic interest, other examples elsewhere may have greater claims to interest."
