The landmark cooling towers at the Athlone Power Station were demolished earlier today and some Capetonians braved the rubbish weather to watch the spectacle, be it from the designated viewing areas or from walking paths around Table Mountain. We drove to the end of Tafelberg Road, walked to a vantage point with hundreds of other people and their dogs, and got rained on while waiting for the event. Given the glaring looks I was getting from Lucy Furr, I thought my head would implode first. The towers were due to come down at noon and considering we all work on African time, some people were caught unaware when the implosion took place a few minutes before the designated time.
If you didn’t happen to venture out of bed today or were a little late to see the two ladies of Athlone being reduced to rubble, feel free to live vicariously through those that did see the event. Check out some of the videos that are doing the rounds.
YouTube use magicwandza captured this clip from the Pinelands Sports Fields.
Here’s another clip from the mobile phone of subramanya1983.
Zoopy user downsouth got in on the action too.
And if you’re not bored by now, here’s a view from another perspective by YouTube user RaeDuncan.
The premature explosion caught both the general public and news crews off-guard. A minute into this little clip shows the puzzled look on E News anchor Andrew Barns as he misses the demolition.
Finally, this most amazing image was taken by portrait photographer Andrew Brauteseth. The full size image is at Twitpic and well worth the look.
If you aren’t already, keep up with more media on Twitter on these two aptly titled hash tags – #CapeTowers and #AthloneTowers. And if you’ve spotted some more photos, drop us a comment and let us know.
12 replies on “Boom Boom Pow: The Athlone Cooling Towers Implosion”
I missed the actual event, and wasn’t at home to watch the live feed, although I was told later by my wife that it all happened earlier than planned and so many, like you mentioned, missed the few seconds it took for the towers to implode.
I think Andrew’s photo is simply amazing, done in black and white it really captures the age of the towers.
We got up to a vantage point at about 11:50 and that’s when the ruddy precipitation rolled in. We weren’t happy and neither were the pups. I bent down to pick Panya up from the wet ground and nearly missed the implosion myself.
Andrew’s shot is indeed incredible. From what I read in the paper, the demolition was supposed to cause the towers were meet in the middle and then topple, but it didn’t seem to happen that way.
was it me or did they push the button a little bit early?
looked pretty sweet coming down, but kinda sad and unceremonious. poof gone
Yes easy, I believe they pressed the button four minutes earlier than expected. Trust the Joburgers to always been in a hurry.
Hey dudes, if you find the clip of the eNews reporter missing the implosion, do let us know. I LOL’d so hard when I saw it on TV this morning.
here’s the best i’ve found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PbgcYM6ec
Thanks easy! I’ve updated the post.
Apparently it’ll take 30 days to clear the mess. I wonder what they will do with the reclaimed space? According to IOL, some people want it turned into a graveyard while developers are thinking of turning into a mall similar to the V&A Waterfront.
i heard that plan for development is a shopping centre/housing combo effort, similar to canal walk style, but smaller.
whatever they decide, it’s going to be tacky.
i would also like to see that clip. my fiance saw and said it kak funny.
just had a snoop around and can’t find anything… i’m sure something will pop up soon
WOW! I so wanted to see them come down, but i was stuck in JHB babysitting my GF’s sister’s kids, was not impressed! but that is a whole other story.
it must of been awesome to see them come down!
It seems controlled demolition is nowhere as flashy as Hollywood explosions, which is a pity. It would have been far more awesome to include some pyrotechnics and blast out hundreds of rubber chickens into the air for people to collect later as keepsakes. In years to come, they can tell their children, “I was at the Athlone Towers demolition and all I got was this lousy chicken.”
HAHAHA! Now that WOULD be something!
even if they just packed in a few barrols of petrol, it would of made an awesome plume of flame and smoke.
but i hear ya, the whole implosion thing could be very boring unless something goes wrong… Actually that is why most people watch F1 racing…