N2 closed - Athlone cooling towers declared unsafe

daveza

daveza

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http://www.ewn.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=32512

The Athlone cooling towers have been declared unsafe as one of the structures’ support rails are giving way.

The landmark towers along the N2 highway in Cape Town have not been generating electricity since 2003 and are set to be demolished.

Officials and structural engineers are at the towers, assessing the extent of the damage.

Disaster Management’s Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said it does not pose a threat to the public at this stage.

“There’s no immediate danger to the public or environment. The city will take every precautionary measure to make sure it doesn’t pose a threat to traffic operations or rail facilities,” he said.
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Rush hour tomorrow is going to be fun.
 
I remember when they imploded the ones in New Germany, quite a show.
 
It's an inside job. There would proberly be such an outcry form the community regarding the demolishing of the towers that the best way to get rid of them is to say they have a structural fault with them.
 
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=iol126614070281A345

The Athlone cooling towers in Cape Town have been declared unsafe as one of the structures? support rails are giving way, according to EyeWitness News.

eNews television reporter philip owira reports that a support ring around one of the cooling towers has become undone - and "one tower is buckling slightly".

The landmark towers along the N2 highway in Cape Town have not been generating electricity for six years and are set to be demolished.

Officials and structural engineers are at the towers, assessing the extent of the damage.

There has also been a report that the N2 has been diverted in the interests of safety.
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http://www.ewn.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=32521

The City of Cape Town announced at a media briefing that the Cape Town landmark cooling towers will be demolished by the end of April.

The city’s Disaster Management and Electricity Department said the Athlone cooling towers are posing serious threats to the public and motorists.

The power plant next to the busy N2 highway was decommissioned in 2003 since first generating power to the Cape Town area since 1960.

Officials reinforced it in 1993 by putting concrete railings around the two towers. Disaster management said the railings have now given way, forcing officials to make a drastic decision about the facilities future.

The city said it no longer requires the services of the 50-year-old towers, and has brought forward its decision to demolish the power plant, which was initially planned for the next five years.
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Great to watch if they are going to implode them but I expect they will take them down bit by bit.
 
Can't we take two old 747s and remote crash them into the towers. We can have our own 9/11. We can call it 2/20 or 20/2.

We can also test the theory of implosion.
 
It will be a bit pricey!
Better, they give a artillery gun pointed (fixed, controls locked, except for firing) at tower and give a shot from it for anyone who wishes @ R50 per shot. Good attraction. :)
 
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They are hideous things and the sooner they are gone the better.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?202755-No-flags-on-the-Athlone-towers&highlight=athlone

16-11-2009

Covering the landmark Athlone towers with a giant South African flag will detract from efforts to maintain a rural atmosphere in the area which is home to Cape Town's model initiation site, says the city.

Such an operation would also put the structures at risk, and be in contravention of advertising laws, it added.

Local artist Michael Elion's proposal to cover the towers with a vinyl fabric flag has gripped the imagination of Capetonians, many of whom SMSed the Cape Argus to register their support for the idea.


But councillor Brian Watkyns, chairman of the planning and environment portfolio committee, said there were a number of reasons why the idea would not work.

The first difficulty was the structure of the towers.

"I am advised that the problem lies mainly in that they are thin shell structures very dependent on the steel reinforcing with a minimum of concrete cover.

The surrounding areas would also be an issue.

"Right next to the towers is an initiation site which is considered to be the model initiation site in the metro. This highly sensitive cultural area has the unenviable task of trying to create a rural atmosphere in an urban area."

Watkyns said any large, colourful additions to the towers would "detract greatly" from this "valued rural atmosphere"
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Well the highly sensitive cultural area ( next to a national highway, interchange, old power station and sewage works ) is about to become a lot more rural.
 
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Tassidar said:
Can't we take two old 747s and remote crash them into the towers. We can have our own 9/11. We can call it 2/20 or 20/2.

We can also test the theory of implosion.
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Brilliant idea! I can see a few tinfoil hatters taking very close notice of that little lot! :D
 
tell the TIK KOPPER from Bokmakierie and surrounds that the price of concrete and steel has skyrocketed and by tomorrow morning both towers will be sold for scrap.
 
Thank goodness. These things have needed to come down for ages. The skyline is going to look a lot better when they are gone.
 
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