Chimney Demolition in Operational Facility

The owner of a facility was modernizing compressor units and elected to have an unused, 76-foot tall reinforced concrete chimney removed from service and demolished. The chimney was located in an active production area of the facility which required a controlled demolition and retrofit of the air intake and ductwork systems.

STRUCTURAL was chosen to perform an air intake retrofit and complete demolition of the chimney. Before the demolition of the structure began, the air system retrofit required the removal of breeching ducts that were replaced with a new screen section.

The chimney demolition first required abatement of the existing coating system which contained lead. The project team engineered a large opening at the base of the chimney to facilitate efficient removal of the sections that were removed above. The concrete column was processed into smaller pieces, at elevation via mechanical means, and then lowered to grade inside the chimney column. As planned, no debris escaped to the outside of the chimney column. The project was completed on schedule with zero safety incidents in 6 weeks.