Delsan-A.I.M. is currently in the final stages of completing the decommissioning and demolition of the Nanticoke Generating Station under contract with Ontario Power Generation.  In undertaking this large scale, multi-year project, the safety of the workers and the public, as well as the protection of the environment were our primary concerns.  All the work on site, therefore, was carefully planned and engineered. 

This former coal-fired thermal electric generating station, once the largest in North America, is located along the north shoreline of Lake Erie near the Town of Nanticoke in Haldimand County, Ontario.  It consisted of eight (8) generating units that had a full capacity output of 4000 MW, which were constructed in phases between 1967 and 1978, and decommissioned in 2013.  The powerhouse was the main building on site where the electrical generating equipment was housed along with the associated boilers, coal handling equipment, pulverizers, turbines and generators.  On the south side of this building, there were large steel-framed structures that supported the precipitators and ductwork, which connected to two (2) – 650-foot reinforced concrete chimneys. 

There are existing live infrastructures on the site that had to be protected, such as live switchyards and high voltage power lines that serve the Ontario electrical power grid, as well as a new solar panel farm, which was constructed on the same property during the course of the project.  In addition, the water intake for the Haldimand County Water Treatment Plant, which is situated along the shoreline of Lake Erie within the project boundaries, had to protected prior to the commencement of demolition operations. 

Delsan-A.I.M. implemented various measures to protect these infrastructures from the potential adverse effects of the demolition work.  The water intake channel, for instance, was isolated from site activities and entirely protected using a specially designed floating cover. 

Delsan-A.I.M. teamed up with specialists in both structural and environmental engineering to ensure the successful and safe undertaking of this project in accordance with all governing laws and regulations. 

Before any demolition work could even begin, the buildings and structures had to be made safe.  This was accomplished by ensuring that all services, such as electricity, had been disconnected and that all hazardous materials had been removed and properly disposed of.  Confirmation of the completed work was performed by environmental engineering consultants who undertook a final inspection. 

Due to the height of the chimneys and the powerhouse building, which were beyond the reach of conventional high-reach demolition equipment, Delsan-A.I.M. utilized explosives in order to cause these structures to fall in a carefully controlled manner.  The explosive demolition of the chimneys occurred early in the project in March 2018, while that of the powerhouse was completed in August 2019. 

Delsan-A.I.M. prepared blast plans for each explosive demolition in order to ensure the proper planning, management and execution of the work with the primary objective of protecting the workers, the public and the environment.  The plans included detailed structural engineering to ensure not only the integrity of the structures during the preparation phase but also the controlled failure mechanisms and drop directions.