The iconic Redcar Blast Furnace which formed part of Teesside's steel heritage in was brought down on 23 November 2022 marking an end of an era for Teesside steelmaking. Built in 1979, the blast furnace stood 365 feet tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe.Casting houses, the dust catcher, charge conveyors, and the blast furnace itself was among structures to come down. The demolition was carried out by Thompsons of Prudhoe using 175kg of explosives and involving months of preparation. A 250-metre exclusion zone was put in place for the blast, which could be heard in areas more than 32km from the area.It was built during the time of state-owned British Steel which was privatized in the 1980s. It then came under the ownership of Corus, which was formed for a merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Koninklijke Hoogovens. It was mothballed in 2010 under the ownership of Tata Steel but a deal to save it was struck in a takeover with Thai firm SSI. However SSI collapsed in 2015 leading to the end of this form of Teesside steelmaking after 150 years.In October 2022, the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Plant in Redcar was also demolished. The four enormous gas stoves which heated the furnace are set to be demolished separately in the coming weeks.
The iconic Redcar Blast Furnace which formed part of Teesside's steel heritage in was brought down on 23 November 2022 marking an end of an era for Teesside steelmaking. Built in 1979, the blast furnace stood 365 feet tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe.Casting houses, the dust catcher, charge conveyors, and the blast furnace itself was among structures to come down. The demolition was carried out by Thompsons of Prudhoe using 175kg of explosives and involving months of preparation. A 250-metre exclusion zone was put in place for the blast, which could be heard in areas more than 32km from the area.It was built during the time of state-owned British Steel which was privatized in the 1980s. It then came under the ownership of Corus, which was formed for a merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Koninklijke Hoogovens. It was mothballed in 2010 under the ownership of Tata Steel but a deal to save it was struck in a takeover with Thai firm SSI. However SSI collapsed in 2015 leading to the end of this form of Teesside steelmaking after 150 years.In October 2022, the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Plant in Redcar was also demolished. The four enormous gas stoves which heated the furnace are set to be demolished separately in the coming weeks.
