Demolition of Redcar coke ovens takes place as part of Teesworks regeneration

A controlled demolition has taken place on Teesside, on the Teesworks site.

The West and East Chimneys of the Redcar Coke Ovens - now on the Teesworks site - were brought down by explosives along with two battery bunkers, a high-level conveyor and a junction house.

The structures stood above the coke ovens were built in 1979, and comprised 132 individual chambers where coal was heated for more than 17 hours creating coke to feed the blast furnace.

The demolition programme at Teesworks is well under way with many large structures already levelled, including the adjacent Stock Houses, hundreds of metres of high-level conveyor, the area workshops and numerous raw materials handling facilities such as the Flux Bunker and Ore Bunker.

By demolishing the former steelworks, earth clearance and ground remediation can begin to create investor-ready land for schemes such as bp’s Net Zero Teesside Power project, which is set to create more than 3,000 jobs during construction.

At the opposite end of the site at South Bank, the majority of structures have already been cleared and the land remediated ready for construction to commence of the £300m SeAH Wind monopile manufacturing facility.

Later this summer further explosive demolitions are planned to include the last section of the Sinter Plant and its chimney stack, the PCI plant and a gas holder among other structures across the site.

Tees Valley Combined Authority have apologised for any inconvenience.

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