Mykolaivcement demolishes a non-functioning smoke stack.

On October 9, 2021, a scheduled demolition of a non-functioning smoke stack took place at Mykolaivcement PrJSC. This stack was a separate structure without any associated process equipment as the line had been dismantled in 2008. 

The blasting operations were performed by a specialized contractor licensed for such activities. The demolition was carried out by the method of directed blasting with the structure being pulled down in the predetermined direction and had been agreed with all relevant government agencies. The works were carried out in accordance with the current safety regulations of Ukraine and CRH international standards. According to the approved project, the following measures were taken, among others: 

• The planned operations of the plant were stopped and, accordingly, all workers were removed from the danger zone within a radius of 120 m around the base of the stack; 
• To ensure safe completion of the works, power, gas, and air supply to the facilities in the danger zone was stopped;  
• A network of manned cordon posts was set up along the perimeter of the danger zone to prevent access of people and machinery to the work area; 
• The plants siren issued alarm signals to notify about the preparation for the blast, the blasting itself, and the completion of the works; 
• The demolition site was personally checked by the person in charge of the blasting operations to determine whether it was safe for the plant to resume operation in the normal way.   

The stack demolition site is going to be cleared to the soil layer, and then a lawn will be arranged and vegetation planted. 

The plant’s clinker kilns that had been operated using the outdated energy-intensive wet process were stopped as far back as 2014.  At that time, the plant began making cement from the clinker supplied from the CRH’s plant in Kamyanets-Podilskyi, where Ukraine’s largest modern clinker production dry line started operation in 2011. This process is more environmentally friendly, as it significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions.