Tinsley Cool Towers Demolition - Almost Live-blog - As it happened

An account of the demolition of the Tinsley Cooling Towers in Sheffield. Sadly there was no live internet connection from the demolition site, so this was written up from notes when I got back at 4am.

01.00 -- Geting ready. Taking several cameras and a video camera to maximise the chances of getting good images. It's going to be tricky in the dark but hopefully we'll get something.

02.01 -- The traffic heading out towards Meddowhall shopping centre from the city is heavy, cars queing back through the industrial estates that surround it waiting to get into the car parks. Busier than expected.

02.10 -- Finally park up. Most of the car-park is unlit, so we pick a spot by the police van. The car-park roofs are packed with people ten deep along the barriers and on the grass at the base. Anywhere with a clear view is full, and police lines are set up to keep everyone far enough back from the blasts.

02.25 -- Up in the crowds it's a festival atmosphere. Horns from parked cars rise in chorus, and boot BBQs smoke gently. Everywhere camera phones are attempting final images of the towers, and clusters of keen amatuers set up tripods and play with exposure settings. Every few minutes a hoax countdown swells from the croud. Down on the ground it's mainly kids getting as close to the police line as possible.

02.30 -- Heading through the shopping centre to the hospitality suite where E.On (The power company that own the towers) are delivering a press briefing. Meddowhall is faintly creepy when it's this empty, dispite the thousands setting up outside. We can confirm the slushy machines run overnight.

02.34 -- Raining. Raining? Great. Look at the Pros with their umbrellas that they didn't leave in the car.

02.45 -- On the press deck. There are street-lights between us and the towers which play havoc with camera equipment. All the TV crews are packed into the far left corner of the stand to keep the lights out of shot. The BBC have parked a massive antenna in everyones line of sight as well. We set up on the far right with a similar streetlight-free view. On the horizon we can see the blinking lights where the police have closed off the M1 for the night - not a minor opperation itself.

02.50 -- General moaning from the photographers about the low light stopping them shooting fast enough. That said, the towers are lit, which E.on wouldn't confirm in advance. And very beautiful they look too.

02.56 -- The klaxon sounds the three minute warning. The assembled press crowd to the edge and ready the equipment.

02.59.50 -- A final countdown runs through the crowd, but it's hard to tell if it's official. A slightly faster countdown comes from the radios of nearby security guards.

03.00 -- First the right tower goes, and then the left a few seconds later. After a puff of dust the sound hits, a muffled but powerful krumph. The top of the right tower twists and sinks, then the left tower follows. Before they're half-way down the dust has risen over them. The dust forms two pillars where the cooling towers just stood, and for a few seconds the dust takes the shape of the towers. Then it starts to smear with the wind.



03.00.10 -- Massive cheers from the crowd, another huge swell of car horns and klaxons. Despite the sadness at the tower's passing, everyone seems excited by the blasts.

03.00.30 -- A few people break through the barriers at the base of the press deck and run for the trees that seperate us from the towers. A platoon of police and security sprint after them and into the scrub.

03.01 -- Various photographers are muttering about buffers filling up too fast and not getting enough pictures in the low light. We managed; the video seems to have come out well. The still shots are weak though - I forgot to keep pressing the button for a few seconds when the blast hit.

03.05 -- The dust is starting to settle and something is emerging from the cloud, still standing where the north tower was. We discount it; the press release says there is a steel frame that might survive the blast.

03.07 -- No, a large piece of one of the towers is still standing. It's hard to see much as it's below the level of the motorway viaduct. It looks like the demolition hasn't gone to plan.

03.11 -- Sheffield City Council leader Paul Scriven dashes past. "That's gone wrong" he mutters to nobody in particular, before demanding answers from the E.On representative. He asks about the motoway re-opening, but is told it's too early to say.

03.25 -- Back in the hospitality suite Cllr Scriven is heard to complain: "We've got a serious problem; we're going to have traffic diverted all over the city." He's worried the remaining pieces of tower may need further demolition and the M1 won't re-open on bank holiday weekend. There are also fears the motorway bridge itself could have been damaged by the blasts. Nobody's ever demolished anything this big this close to a major road bridge before.
Demolition isn't an exact science, so I don't think E.On or the demolition crews are surprised by this, but obviously the city authorities wanted things to go as smoothly as possible.

03.30 -- The E.On representative is offering explanations in the Meddowhall VIP room. He says that the left-hand tower twisted as it collapsed and that the half closest to the motorway didn't fully collapse. It's not stable so they can't climb and re-drill it to plant more charges, so further demolition will have to be a careful job.
He promises Cllr Scriven that work has already started and they don't need to wait for daylight. He also says the viaduct looks fine.

03.45 -- Scriven briefs his aides. "Don't be drawn on whose fault it is... that will come out. It's all about getting the motorway open now."

03.46 -- Free food! We grab the last free pastries from the VIP room. Thanks E.On.

03.50 -- Heading home. Driving into the city without the towers in my mirrors. I hope whatever artwork they build to replace them is of a similar scale.

UPDATE 10.20 -- It seems the remaining pieces of the north tower collapsed around 5am and the M1 should re-open as planned. It's unknown yet if it collapsed after further work or on its own.