SPRINGDALE, Pa. —
The boiler house at the former Springdale power plant will remain standing until next week following a partial collapse of the building Sunday morning.
“It’s not exactly what we planned but, still, we’ll be able to finish the rest of the job here,” said Scott Reschly, president of Charah Environmental Redevelopment Group, the Louisville-based firm that bought the site in 2022.
The boiler house at the former power plant was originally planned for full demolition around 10 a.m., with crews using cables hooked inside of the building to bring it down. However, officials said when crews pulled the cables, not all of them were efficient in fully collapsing the structure.
"We did have the pull-down event of the power station, and we apologize for the disruption to the community, we’re hoping this is the last time we have a major shut down of the roads, but it looks like we will have to one more time,” Reschly said.
Officials 30% of the building that remains is stable.
"The building that's still standing is stable and we could've made it more unstable but, that would have put our workers in danger," President of B&B Wrecking Brian Baumann said during the conference. "The 30% remaining is stable but, if we feel it's unstable, then we will make it safe."
Video above: Drone captures partial demolition of Springdale boiler house
Officials said crews will take the next week to reevaluate, with the full demolition being scheduled for Saturday, March 8, weather permitting. An exact time was not given on when demolition will resume.
"We put a plan together, but it was a matter of do we put our workers in a dangerous situation or take more time (to figure out next steps)," Baumann said.
Three homes along Porter Street, officials said, are affected by the demolition. Police said during the conference they have been accommodated as crews work to fully remove the structure.
Road restrictions will again be in place once construction resumes.
The demolition comes following the 2023 plant disaster, when the implosion of smokestacks on the site caused significant damage to nearby homes and electrical lines, with dust traveling miles from the site.
More updates will be made as more information comes in, please refresh this article.
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