A dramatic explosion at a former aluminium smelter in the NSW Hunter region has brought down iconic smoke stacks that have dominated Kurri Kurri’s skyline for six decades.
A loud bang was heard through the small town west of Newcastle yesterday morning as three smoke stacks and a water tower crashed to the ground.
A mini-action camera positioned to capture close-up footage of the collapse was flung 40 metres due to the impact, but it survived to record the explosive moment.
The smelter, owned by Hydro Aluminium, closed in 2012 after a huge downturn in profit due to the impact of the Australian dollar and low world aluminium prices.
Managing director Richard Brown said there was still another year of demolition on the site to go, but the toppling of the stacks was a significant visual milestone.
"It does look pretty spectacular," he said.
"The process simply involved an explosive demolition blowing the bottom out of the stack — a bit like felling a tree.
"They blew a hole out of the bottom and the gravity basically brought the stacks down."
The tallest stack was around 150 metres tall.
The former smelter site covers close to 2,000 hectares of land which has been rezoned for a mixture of residential, industrial and conservation purposes.
