After almost five decades of dominating the Southport skyline, the giant gasholder on Crowland Street is currently being demolished, piece by piece.
Once voted one of the North West’s biggest eyesores in a BBC competition, the 85 metre tall structure will be gone for good by the end of June this year, following its removal by National Grid.
However, even the massive holder has been dwarfed recently with the arrival of the UK’s second largest crane which stands at an incredible 100 metres tall, with a main boom reaching more than 80 metres long, weighing in at a colossal 600 tonnes. The massive structure has been brought in to transport the dismantled pieces of steel and took six people, six days to erect.
David Clarke, managing director of CDC Demolition, National Grid’s main works contractor on the project, said: “This has been one of our most interesting and challenging projects to date. The size of the gasholder and its proximity to its surroundings has presented a number of engineering challenges for us. Also, to have one of the country’s largest cranes on site has been exciting for the project team.”
Two smaller gasholders on site had to be demolished before work could begin on the main structure in order to make room for the large crane.
Brian Alston, National Grid regeneration manger, added: “Gasholders offer local storage to cope with daily demand and provide security of supply. However, technology has moved on and there are now more cost-effective ways of providing storage capacity in some areas.
“We hope that our works will create a more pleasant outlook for the people of Southport and please be assured every effort will be made to minimise disruption to the local area.”
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For further media information only please contact Andrew Vaux or Helen Elson, National Grid, on 0113 255 8014.