LISTEN: Long-standing concrete floodlight towers to come down at Willowmoore Park on Monday
People in the area should stay clear of the so-called ’blasting zone’.
Two of the four concrete floodlight towers that have stood at Willowmoore Park for decades are set to come down on Monday morning (November 19) at 10am.
The two rear floodlight pylons (closest to Willowmoore High School) will be brought down by demolition company Wreckers.
The other two will be brought down at a later date.
A development notice published in the Benoni City Times’ classifieds section on August 10 by the Eastern Cricket Union’s CEO Cassim Suliman first announced the intention of the union to demolish two of the towers.
In the notice, Suliman explained that the union had been advised by civil engineers, who had conducted inspections of the old pylons at the stadium, that due to the hazardous implications which the old pylons pose on the public spectators who visit the stadium, it had been deemed appropriate to demolish the existing structures.
The City Times caught up with Wreckers’ demolition blaster Kyle Perkin who is heading up the operation.
LISTEN to Caxton Radio’s Logie G’s chat with Perkin here:
“Both towers will be a simultaneous felled implosion and the operation should take a few seconds, four seconds probably, and both should then be on the floor,” said the demolition blaster.
“There’s a cushion of soil, both strategically placed so as not to damage the grounds.
“The steelworks at the top of the pylons will leave quite an indentation because that is the main impact zone.”
He added that he will be using a water-based explosive with small quantities of ammonium nitrate cartridges strategically placed in certain areas within the floodlights to remove a large portion of the circumference.
“Once that is removed, the towers will fall in the desired direction.
“There are very few risks involved, as long as the demarcated areas are well monitored,” said Perkin.
“We will have sentries out with two-way radio communication between the relevant sentries and the people spectating.
“Tom Jones Street traffic (alongside the stadium) will be stopped temporarily, for a 15-minute duration, while the activity takes place.”
He added that the implosion will be quite loud.
“It will echo due to the towers being hollow and the chargers being placed internally.
“There won’t be multiple bangs.
“It’ll be one big bang and both towers should start moving.”
Perkin advised people around the area to exercise a bit of caution.
“People obviously mustn’t try to peek over walls in close proximity.
“We have notified the relevant parties within the 200m radius, what we call the ‘blasting zone’.
“No debris is going to reach that far, but it’s just an extra precaution.
“The school has been notified and they are going to place children in classrooms towards the rear of the school.
“They’re far away though, more than 330m away.
“The military base and the magistrate’s court have all been notified and they are moving their people just out of the zone.”
A more detailed history on the exact date of the old floodlights’ erection at Willowmoore Park will be published soon.
More modern floodlights were erected at the ground last year for Cricket South Africa’s T20 Global League which never happened.
ALSO READ:
Willowmoore Park: From swamp to sportsfield
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