Demolition work is under way at the Cemex Southam facility.
Most of the buildings, large and small, are to go under the demolition process that will take around 26 weeks but will involve only around four vehicle movements per day
Formerly known locally as The Rugby Cement Works, the site now functions as a quarry and a testing facility. These two operations will continue but the redundant buildings are all to go.
The huge task involves dismantling large structures such as the kiln building. No explosives are to be used in the largest such project ever seen in the Southam area.
The works once processed cement products via pipelines from Rugby and even further afield. Works at the site finished in 2000.
Once the largest employer in the area it is now employing only a handful of permanent staff.
The staff car park is now full of contractor's vehicles:
The chimney, which is a local landmark and is even used regularly by pilots as a navigation aid is not going - this is because the clay handling and blending facility which has been the subject of recent significant investment (around £2 million) lies within any blast zone.
The quarry and clay blending will continue as normal during the demolition project.
It is anticipated that there will be little or no disturbance to local residents due to the location of the redundant buildings and the agreed method of working.
Despite being a valuable space for residential or business use, there are no plans to use the site for any other use other than the continued quarrying of clay and its processing prior to supply to the cement plant in Rugby. Perhaps in 30-40 years time when quarrying is finished, the area may then be developed.
Specialised contractors have been used to deal with asbestos removal. The wearing of protective gear is still required in some areas:
The contract for demolition is being carried out by Keltbray. In charge of the project on-site is David Henshaw:
This charming little building if sited elsewhere would be seen as a 1930s art deco masterpiece. At Southam it's an abandoned security hut so faces the hammer of doom. The weigh bridge in the foreground is still in use at present.
The decision to bite the bullet and demolish the site was finally made for a number of reasons one of which was potentially dangerous 'visits' to the site for a poke about [see here]. The site is now regularly patrolled by security guards to discourage such visitors.
Another factor in the decision is the high value of scrap metal. The metal recovered from the site will be sold for recycling and the revenues should be enough to pay for the entire demolition project.
Parts of the huge kiln awaiting recycling:
Another architectural gem tucked away on site:
This grizzly piece of hardware could well have dispensed with some zombies had the new Brad Pitt film, World War Z, been shot on-site as originally planned:
Many of the buildings show signs of decay:
The project is being photographed on an on-going basis by Cemex and Southam News to create a valuable historic archive giving future historians a glimpse of what the works consisted of.
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