A 400 ft Anglesey landmark that has dominated the local skyline for more than 50 years is set to be razed to the ground.
It is part of a contract that is valued at £410,000 for Nottingham based Total Reclaims Demolition and will be one of the largest chimney demolitions performed by the firm. The team has been tasked with the continued clearing of the former Anglesey Aluminium plant in Holyhead, North Wales.
The 15-week contract was won by the firm following an open tender process and subsequent negotiation with East Midlands based company, Rock Civil Engineering. The specialist controlled explosion of the huge 400 ft (122 metre) tall concrete chimney in Holyhead follows a smaller chimney demolition performed by the firm in Derbyshire in 2020.
Work began earlier this month on the demolition of around 200,000 sq. ft. of smelting and storage sheds. No exact date has yet been set for reducing the chimney at the former alumina processing plant to rubble.
Ewan Cross, Project Manager, and the grandson of the founder of Total Reclaims Demolition, the late Melvyn Cross Snr, said:
“We currently have two 50-tonne high-reach Volvos deployed at the site, supplemented by two 30-tonne Komatsus, which are the newest machines to our fleet.”
He added: “The majority of the project is our bread-and-butter type of work. However, the blow-down of the chimney is the really exciting part. It’s not every day that something like this comes along."
"In fact, the last chimney we blew was around three years ago and it was a quarter of the size of this, and that’s what makes it interesting for me. It’s the second explosive project I’ve been involved with since stepping up and following in my father and late grandfather's footsteps and I’m ready for it.”
The former Anglesey Aluminium site closed down over a decade ago, with production ceasing in 2013. In 2016, the site was taken over by the Orthios Group, however, its recycling venture collapsed in 2022 with the loss of 140 jobs.
The site, renamed Prosperity Parc, now has a new owner, Swedish shipping line company Stena Line, which purchased the land to expand its operation at the Freeport.
The expansion has been hailed as a new start. According to local reports, Anglesey Freeport redevelopment is forecast to deliver up to 13,000 jobs across North Wales.