Cheswick Generating Station Smoke Stack Demolition 2 June 2023

Video of the demolition of the Cheswick Generating Station Smoke Stacks from Barking Slopes. These towers were a landmark to so many for so long. It is sad to see them go. At roughly 1 minute into the video you can hear an arc flash event and then several cutouts opening on utility poles, presumably the dust created an arc flash event.

This was a coal fired power plant with a 500 megawatt capacity.

The older tower was painted Red and White because of the patrons of the Oakmont Country Club who did not want to see the smoke stack, and paid to have it painted to resemble a lighthouse.

Take a moment today to appreciate the beauty and the engineering around you in all of our infrastructure.

edit. I found out later in the day that the smoke stack caused a few utility poles to fail causing the power outage. it was not conductive dust as I had assumed above.