DEMOLITION work has now begun to bring down the sixth and final tower block on a Black Country estate.
Birmingham-based Coleman and Co has been appointed by Wolverhampton City Council to knock down the 17-storey Phoenix Rise building in the Blakenhall area of the city.
The building is the last remaining tower block of sextet which once made up the Blakenhall Gardens Estate.
The other five blocks were demolished between 2002 and 2008 after which the council built a new school and community centre with further plans for new houses and shops.
Coleman and Co has spent the last few weeks ‘soft-stripping’ Phoenix Rise of its fixtures and fittings, materials containing asbestos, wood, plaster and non-supporting walls.
The block is not being taken down by controlled explosion due to its height and its proximity to utility mains, a resource centre and school.
It will be dismantled in sections until it reaches an acceptable height after which the largest high reach demolition machine in the country will be brought in to finish the job.
The city council says that up to 90% of the materials crushed during the demolition will be recycled.
Kenny Aitchison, from the council’s regeneration team, said: “The concrete that is crushed gets graded to assess its quality and is then sent to be used for different purposes.
“Some may become road surfaces and some for gravel sold in garden centres.”
The job is scheduled to be completed by Christmas but a spokesman for the city council so it had not yet been decided what would be built in the tower’s place.
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