Omega meets its end

Standing at 432 m (1,418 ft) tall, the Omega Transmission Tower in Darriman in Victoria, Australia, was the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere until it was brought to earth by explosive charges set by Liberty Industrial.

The redundant naval communications tower was successfully brought down by the project team that included experienced explosive demolition experts, structural engineers and a licenced shot firer, who carefully engineered and precisely executed the safe and controlled demolition of the structure. Explosive cutting charges were used to sever the tower’s inner support cables, causing the lattice truss tower to destabilise and collapse upon itself in four large sections.

As a precaution, traffic on the adjoining South Gippsland Highway was halted for a short time while the demolition was undertaken and representatives from Victoria Police, Worksafe and the Department of Defence attended the demolition to observe, record and support the project.

Once the structure was safely on the ground and all explosive charges accounted for, the team began clearing the resulting steel debris using a 36 tonne excavator before removing the material from site for recycling.