One thing’s for sure, the only thing better than one structure being demolished is two structures being demolished at the same time. Late last week, a decommissioned Florida Power Plant saw to the implosion of two 462 feet tall cooling towers in spectacular fashion.
Construction of the St. Johns River Power Park, in Jacksonville, Florida, began in the early 1980s. It took crews around 6 years to complete and cost a total of $1.45 billion. The coal-fired electric generating plant supplied 632,000KW to the surrounding area for around 30 years before it was shut down in January of 2018, as natural gas has become a less expensive fuel option than coal.
On Saturday, June 16, 2018, that six years of hard work was demolished in approximately 12 seconds. According to USA Today, crews from Total Wrecking & Environmental prepared for the demolition for 10 weeks prior to the implosion, which required 1,500 pounds of dynamite and 12,000 linear feet of detonation. Total cost of the full power park demolition, which sits on 1,600 acres of land, will be around $17.7 million.
When the full demolition and cleanup is completed in April of 2020, much of the land will be sold for development of commercial or industrial uses.
Check out the AP’s video of the cooling tower implosions below:
In November of last year, the 546 foot tall Mina Plaza in Abu Dhabi officially broke the world record for tallest demolition by explosion, supplanting Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan, which held the record for 22 years.