Athlone Power Station in the context of "Building implosion"

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⭐ Core Definition: Athlone Power Station

Athlone Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa. The site stopped generating power in 2003 and was decommissioned. However, in 2021 plans were announced to re-use the site.

Athlone Power Station was situated on the N2 freeway into the city, consisted of a large brick generation building, two 99m brick chimneys, and two cooling towers, fed by reclaimed water from a nearby sewage plant. It was commissioned in 1962 with 6 turbines with a nominal capacity of 180 megawatts, and operated by the City of Cape Town. Between 1985 and 1994 the station was held on standby, but it resumed generating in 1995 with a reduced capacity of 120 MW. Between 1995 and 2003 it was used to generate power during peak demand periods or power failures of the national grid. By 2003, significant investment was required due to the age of the power station, so generation ended.

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👉 Athlone Power Station in the context of Building implosion

In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings. Despite its terminology, building implosion also includes the controlled demolition of other structures, like bridges, smokestacks, towers, and tunnels. This is typically done to save time and money of what would otherwise be an extensive demolition process with construction equipment, as well as to reduce construction workers' exposure to infrastructure that is in severe disrepair.

Building implosion, which reduces to seconds a process which could take months or years to achieve by other methods, typically occurs in urban areas and often involves large landmark structures.

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Athlone Power Station in the context of Demolition

Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for reuse purposes.

For small buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three stories high, demolition is a rather simple process. The building is pulled down either manually or mechanically using large hydraulic equipment: elevated work platforms, cranes, excavators or bulldozers. Larger buildings may require the use of a wrecking ball, a heavy weight on a cable that is swung by a crane into the side of the buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry, but are less easily controlled and often less efficient than other methods. Newer methods may use rotational hydraulic shears and silenced rockbreakers attached to excavators to cut or break through wood, steel, and concrete. The use of shears is especially common when flame cutting would be dangerous.

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Athlone Power Station in the context of Athlone, Cape Town

Athlone is a suburb of Cape Town located to the east of the city centre on the Cape Flats, south of the N2 highway. Two of the suburb's main landmarks are Athlone Stadium and the decommissioned coal-burning Athlone Power Station. Athlone is mainly residential and is served by a railway station of the same name. It however includes industrial (Athlone Industria 1 & 2) and commercial zones (Athlone CBD and Gatesville). There are many "sub-areas" within Athlone, including Gatesville, Rylands, Belgravia Estate, Bridgetown and Hazendal. Colloquially other areas around Athlone are also often included in the greater Athlone area even though the City of Cape Town might classify them as separate neighborhoods such as Rondebosch East, Crawford, and Manenberg.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Demolition ← Athlone, Cape Town ← Building implosion
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Coal-fired power station → Athlone, Cape Town → Cape Town → South Africa → N2 (South Africa) → Cooling tower → Reclaimed water → Megawatt → City of Cape Town →