Once the tallest structure in the world, Sudbury landmark to be dismantled piece by piece

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Sudbury’s Superstack will take years to dismantle

Taking down an iconic Sudbury structure

Sudbury's Superstack to come down

ARCHIVED VIDEO: 2020: End is near for iconic Superstack in Sudbury

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Superstack being phased out

ARCHIVED VIDEO: Stories on Vale's iconic Superstack

Dismantling of the famous Superstack in Sudbury will begin in August.

While many are sad to see it go, Vale Base Metals said it’s an important step forward in its environmental stewardship program.

The Superstack is 381 metres (or 1,250 feet) high, 35 metres wide at the base and 16 metres wide at the top. It is the second-tallest chimney in the world, exceeded only by a power station chimney in Kazakhstan.

When it was completed in 1972, it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world. It dispersed emissions from mining, a critical step in improving Sudbury’s heavily damaged environmental landscape, which used to be dominated by black rock.

More recently, however, Vale’s $1 billion Clean AER Project led to the elimination of 100,000 metric tonnes of sulfur dioxide emissions each year (equivalent to 1,000 railway tanker cars of sulphuric acid), bringing emissions down to 30 per cent below the provincial standards.

That meant the stack was no longer needed.

Paul Guenette is the project lead for the Superstack demolition project, a process that began in 2020 when Vale decommissioned the stack and began planning how to take it down.

Since then, elevators have been built on the side to bring workers up and down. For the last two months, workers have been building a platform at the top.

“It’s 95 per cent completed,” Guenette said.

“Probably in mid-July, we’re going to see … the actual machine that’s going to be doing the dismantling being set right on top of the rim.”

He said the machine is like a jackhammer that will be “cutting away panels in the stack and making them fall down on the inside.”

Rubble will be removed as it accumulates inside the stack using a remotely controlled loader similar to what’s being used underground.

“Again, (it’s) super exciting piece that we’re utilizing technology from underground to the above-ground, doing this monumental project,” Guenette said.

Work will begin within weeks, but the process itself will take three or four years, he added.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of hours,” Guenette said.

“We have to respect all the bylaws, obviously, for the noise and other things just to make sure everybody’s happy.”

Work has to stop in winter because of the cold and extreme winds. He said that the water sprayer they use to control dust wouldn’t work in winter because the water would freeze.

“That’s why it’s really going to take quite some time,” Guenette said.

Vale hired Commonwealth Dynamics Canada, an external contractor, to help with the demolition and also has a team of about 27 employees working on the project.

For people like Erin Newell, the Superstack has been a constant in her life. Newell’s family has lived in Copper Cliff for 90 years.

“My grandparents came here from Toronto, and they were down on Peter Street, where they raised nine children and there’s still quite a few of us in town,” she said.

“I grew up on Crighton Road across from the park and I’ve lived on this street beside my sister for about 12 years.”

Newell said the stack has always been a compass for her. “Coming back from camp or a trip, you would always know that you were close to home (when) you started to see that in the skyline,” she said.

‘It’s going to be very different’

“And I think it’s going to be very different now that it’s not here. Definitely, a big piece of history that’s always been a part of my life.”

As the demolition moves closer to reality, Guenette said he knows it’s bittersweet for many in the community.

“The stack, for certain generations of people, it was a sign of prosperity, right?” he said.

“You see smoke coming out of the stack, that means Inco or Vale, it was making money. People were working. We’d be able to put food on the table.”

But the fact that it’s no longer needed is a good thing since it means that emissions from mining have been drastically reduced.

“Look at Sudbury now -- it’s completely green,” Guenette said.

“Thirty years ago, you wouldn’t recognize this place. So there’s two sides to it, I understand, but it’s time to turn the new page as far as Sudbury and really showing the world that we care about the environment and we want to improve the world.”

In addition to the Superstack, Vale is also taking down the less-famous Copperstack. Guenette said there are about 95 feet left to be dismantled.

As for the Superstack, residents are being encouraged to share photos and memories of the stack while to company works towards creating a monument.