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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
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| Didcot power station towers demolished | Didcot power station towers demolished |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Three enormous cooling towers at the disused Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire have been demolished. | |
| The blast, conducted with more than 180kg of explosives, flattened 36,000 tonnes of material in seconds and was streamed live online. | |
| Hundreds of people gathered to watch the towers come down at 05:01 BST, despite warnings of a huge dust cloud. | |
| The decision to carry out the demolition before sunrise was criticised by some residents. | |
| The coal-fired power station ceased generating in March last year after dominating the skyline around the town since 1970. | |
| Mark Coleman, managing director of demolition firm 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 | Mark Coleman, managing director of demolition firm 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 |
| Many people camped out all night or got up early to watch the towers come down online, while #DidcotDemolition quickly became a trending topic on Twitter. | Many people camped out all night or got up early to watch the towers come down online, while #DidcotDemolition quickly became a trending topic on Twitter. |
| Gilliam Miles said: "Up at 2am and watched it from Ladygrove with hundreds of others - emotional moment. Will miss them." | Gilliam Miles said: "Up at 2am and watched it from Ladygrove with hundreds of others - emotional moment. Will miss them." |
| Tina Banham said: "They went down so quickly - we were watching a water vole whilst waiting in Appleford, heard the explosion and they seemed to be down in seconds. Could have missed it had explosion not been so loud." | Tina Banham said: "They went down so quickly - we were watching a water vole whilst waiting in Appleford, heard the explosion and they seemed to be down in seconds. Could have missed it had explosion not been so loud." |
| Stuart Kerry added: "I saw them being built when I was young and now have seen them come down via the internet live here in the USA." | Stuart Kerry added: "I saw them being built when I was young and now have seen them come down via the internet live here in the USA." |
| Last year's Great British Bake Off quarter-finalist, and Didcot resident, Christine Wallace had made her own edible tribute to the towers before she watched them crumble. | Last year's Great British Bake Off quarter-finalist, and Didcot resident, Christine Wallace had made her own edible tribute to the towers before she watched them crumble. |
| She told BBC Radio Oxford: "My heart was thumping, all our hearts were thumping, just waiting to see what was going to happen. | She told BBC Radio Oxford: "My heart was thumping, all our hearts were thumping, just waiting to see what was going to happen. |
| "But then, in a second, what was there in front of us was no more. It was very moving actually." | "But then, in a second, what was there in front of us was no more. It was very moving actually." |
| Clean-up operation | Clean-up operation |
| Spectators had been advised to stay away from the "difficult to access" site and watch the event online instead. | Spectators had been advised to stay away from the "difficult to access" site and watch the event online instead. |
| Didcot A : Form and aesthetics | |
| • The 2000 MW coal-fired power station (now also gas-fired and biomass fuelled) was constructed between 1965 and 1974 | |
| • The towers stood at 375 ft (114m) | |
| • Each tower was designed to cool 9 million gallons of water per hour | |
| • The consultant architect was Frederick Gibberd, who also designed Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral | |
| • Gibberd designed a scheme that would maintain the wide views across the Vale of the White Horse | |
| • As the site was in a flat valley, Gibberd devised "earth hedges" to screen the coal yard from the main railway and security fence | |
| Source: English Heritage | |
| For those determined to witness the event, Earth Trust opened its car park at Wittenham Clumps, while First Great Western also offered free parking at its Foxhall Road car park. | For those determined to witness the event, Earth Trust opened its car park at Wittenham Clumps, while First Great Western also offered free parking at its Foxhall Road car park. |
| Residents wanting the explosion to take place in the daylight "for everyone to see" had set up a Facebook page and petition, which received more than 3,000 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. | 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 had 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." | He said: "We had 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 has started to clear the area of dust, including the nearby railway line. | Following the explosion, a clean up operation has started to clear the area of dust, including the nearby railway line. |
| The demolition firm said roads and the railway were clear by 07:00. | The demolition firm said roads and the railway were clear by 07:00. |
| Homes and gardens being covered in dust had caused concern among some local residents living in nearby Foxhall Manor Park. | 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". | 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." | "Behind that there will be a series of road sweepers and behind that will be a series of operatives literally picking up the pieces." |