The landscape changed in just six seconds flat
Ravencraig razed to the ground
Chatter among the gathered crowds stopped abruptly as a maroon flare lit up the sky shortly before 1pm on Sunday, July 28, 1996.
It warned of the forthcoming explosions, and an expectant hush settled over the area.
Some 30 seconds later, two quick bangs broke the silence and 145 kilos of plastic explosives razed one of Lanarkshire’s landmarks to the ground.
It took just six seconds to reduce Ravenscraig’s famous three cooling towers and two gas holders to a twisted pile of metal and rubble.
And the only sound was the crying of babies as locals stared quietly for a short while more, trying to take in that a skyline that had been taken for granted for over four decades had, so quickly, gone forever.
The five structures – which had dominated the skyline since the 1950s – disappeared during the controlled ‘blowdown’ 20 years ago last week.
Thousands of spectators witnessed the ‘big bang’ from vantage points around the 1000-acre site.
The then Strathclyde Police mounted a massive security operation, evacuating 60 homes within the exclusion zone and closing roads around the perimeter.
British Steel press officer Mike Hitchcock had revealed that the company had no plans to invite a celebrity to press the plunger and bring the towers down.
He said: “The job will be carried out by one of the engineers from Leeds-based Controlled Demolition Group Ltd, who have particular expertise in this line of work.”
The three cooling towers were 70 metres tall reinforced concrete shells and had a combined weight of 9000 tons.
The two gas holders were made of steel. The larger of those two structures had borne the name of the former works and was 80 metres high, tipping the scales at 550 tons.