ForConstructionPros.com

Completed in 1968 at a cost of $274 million, the 2,400-megawatt Lakeview Thermal Generating Station was the province of Ontario's largest thermal-electric plant. For 40+ years, its four 480-ft.-high concrete stacks (known as "The Four Sisters") served as a distinctive landmark west of Toronto on the Lake Ontario shoreline.

As part of a government plan to phase out all of Ontario Power Generation's six coal-fired generating stations by the end of 2007, the stacks were demolished in a controlled drop and were on the ground in less than 30 seconds, while the plant itself was imploded and leveled in under a minute. Then the real work began.

Slicing and sorting through the debris
The complete demolition project, including remediation of the 130-acre lake-front site, is expected to take up to two years. It's a huge undertaking calling for an expert team of heavy equipment professionals to finish the job safely, on time and economically.

The team on the site comes from Murray Demolition (a division of Quantum Murray LP), headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Murray Demolition specializes in industrial and commercial demolition projects, and is one of Canada's Big Three demolition contractors capable of taking on jobs of this magnitude.

The steel structure of the power generating station housed a complex of conveyors, coal hoppers, boilers, heat exchangers and turbines. The columns of the building structures were strategically severed to effectively lay the building on an incline. This was intended to get the structure as close to the ground as practical, yet still allow crews to work on specific areas.