Demolition of Richborough Power Station - Pictures

At 9 AM on Sunday 11th March fifty years of Kent history ended in less than fifty seconds when the three cooling towers and chimney of Richborough Power Station were demolished by a series of controlled explosions.

The first cooling tower came down rapidly followed almost immediately by the other two.

Finally the chimney came down.

All that remains now is a solitary wind turbine and two masts.

As I mentioned in my earlier post about Richborough Power Station the plan is to convert the site into a 300 acre "green energy park".

Personally I think covering the countryside with solar panels and/or wind turbines will be as big an eye sore as the towers which have just come down....

Demolition of Richborough Power Station

In little under twelve hours Kent will loose another of it's landmarks.

At 0900 hrs Sunday 11th March three cooling towers and chimney of Richborough Power Station will be demolished by controlled explosions.

The towers have dominated the local landscape since the station opened in 1962. Originally the station was fuelled by coal from the East Kent coalfield but in 1971 it was converted to burn oil.

The timing of this decision was to prove unfortunate in view of subsequent developments in the Middle East and the consequent spike in oil prices.

In 1989 a controversial decision was made to burn orimulsion - a type of fuel based on bitumen produced in Venezuela. This was considerably cheaper than regular fuel oil but more polluting to the environment.

In one incident, fallout from the power station landed on the body work of newly imported Peugeot and Citroen cars at nearby Ramsgate port and the station's insurers had to settle a £ 3 million claim for damages.

In 1996 the power station was closed for good. Following demolition the plan is to create a 300 acre green energy park on the site. There are already solar panels in a field adjacent to the towers.
Finger's crossed the demolition goes according to plan tomorrow or there could be a few red faces.

IF my alarm clock behaves itself and gets me up in time, I hope to be able to post some pictures of the demolition.

UPDATE - for pictures of the demolition, please see here.

If you have enjoyed this post and would like to read about a few more of Kent's disappeared landmarks please see...

Demolition of Blue Circle / Lafarge Cement Works

Demolition of Rugby Cement / Cemex Chimney

AEI / W T Henleys Cable Works