By Jem Anshaw
We are just over a week away from a major change to the Upper Hunter skyline, as the chimneys at Liddell Power Station are set to come down.
The demolition is set to take place on Tuesday, May 26, weather permitting, with explosives in both chimneys set to be detonated a few milliseconds apart.
“The quantity of explosives that are used are quite small comparative to mining operations, so, no, people in town won’t hear or see anything,” Brad Williams, AGL’s director of transition, said when asked if residents in Muswellbrook might notice anything.
“However, we’ve had advice from emergency services that we do need to close the roads throughout that period.
“The last thing I want is for people to be driving down the highway and be distracted by the chimneys coming down.”
Community concerns about asbestos being present in the materials have been addressed, with only a small amount left in an inaccessible area of the chimneys, but all precautions will be taken to conceal it including an occupational hygienist being on site conducting air monitoring throughout.
“When the chimneys come down, obviously the material will be sampled and sorted and disposed of accordingly,” Brad explained.
“The next stage of work after that is getting the boilers ready for felling, so they’ll actually come down in two separate events we’re planning for later this year.”
Work to strip the turbine hall continues, as does rehabilitation work on the ash dam as the AGL Energy Hub site continues to take shape.
A live stream of the demolition will be available on the AGL YouTube channel, and former staff are invited to attend a viewing event at the Muswellbrook RSL Club on the day.
Livetraffic NSW will be updated closer to the event with periodic road closure times.
Click Here to see AGL’s video explanation of the demolition process
See AGL’s Frequently Asked Question and Information page Here
