On Sunday November 27th 2005, the skyline of Glasgow was dramatically changed for ever with the simultaneous demolition of the Five 20 Storey Mitchellhill Flats in Castlemilk.

The work was carried out by a consortium of companies appointed by Glasgow Housing Association and led by principal contractor John F. Hunt Demolition of Grays in Essex. Explosives Specialists Safedem Ltd, Consulting Engineers Faber Maunsell (formerly Bullen Consultants) and Planning Supervisor DPS International were also involved.

Dundee Demolition Company, Safedem Ltd, further enhanced their reputation as Scotland’s Explosive Engineering Experts, as they successfully demolished the blocks.

With each structure twenty storey’s high and approximately 12,500 tonnes of hardcore per block, a complex delay sequence was formulated to minimise air overpressure and ground vibration levels resulting from the collapsing structures.

Over 14,000 individual charges and approximately 300 Kilos of explosive were initiated on time at mid day on the 27th November, 2005 bringing the 62,000 tonnes down to ground level in five perfect debris piles, in just 22 seconds.

The demolition of the flats, built in 1965, marks the last phase in the regeneration of the Castlemilk area of Glasgow where hundreds of new, low-rise homes have been built and many more extensively refurbished.

According to John Hall, Managing Director of John F. Hunt: “The whole operation went extremely smoothly and great credit should go to the team members from the various organisations involved for the tremendous attention to detail and level of cooperation in the planning and execution of this major contract”.

William Sinclair Managing Director of Safedem Ltd commented “…We secured this project because of our experience and past success in explosive demolitions in Scotland. The high safety standards set on our previous contracts has really impressed other organisations who are considering explosive demolition.