Decay

 

Slowly the proof of the existence of a once impressive fertilizer site is destroyed. I definitely need some updates here, but to give an impression, here are some pic's of the demolition of some of the plants.

 

The first one to go was the Nitric Acid plant. It was sold to a company in Belgium who probably thought our 33 year old technology was an improvement to theirs... Hope they are happy with it... 

 

One of the major undertakings was the removal of the absorber column, weighing more then 500 metric tons. Some of the pictures below were graciously forwarded by some of my former colleagues, see the comments when you hover over the pic's with your mouse.

 

T201 hovering above its former position. Pic courtesy of ART and LMP  T201 moved to the road. One part of the staircase betrays its former location. Pic courtesy of ART and LMP

 

Slowly the tower is rotated. The ammonia plant silently in the background. Pic courtesy of ART and LMP  A shameful look under the skirt of the tower. Pic courtesy of ART and LMP

 

A couple of months later, nothing is left but a hole in the ground...

 

Nothing left...  The skyline has changed forever

 

The next plant to go: The CAN-plant. Did anyone buy this ammonium nitrate infested steel or was it just demolished?

 

The CAN-plant in exploded view. Pic courtesy of ART  And finally...Nothing left but a pile of rubble. Pic courtesy of ART

 

And then... "they" started nibbling on one of my favorites, the back-end of the urea plant. On a quick recent nightly visit it seemed that even the prill tower, that concrete monument of industry has gone to meet its maker (although, thinking about it, its maker may still be alive...). I am afraid I will have to go back in daytime to see if my worst nightmare has come true.

 

Gone is the ever present smell off ammonia... Pic courtesy of ART