Stella South Power Station

The former coal-fired power station, located on the banks of the River Tyne, was operational from 1951 until its closure in the 1990s.

All above ground structures had previously been demolished to ground level, although the foundations and underground structures and culverts remain.

VHE carried out remediation and reclamation works, which comprised the break-out and processing of the complex substructures on the site along with the remediation of 15,000 cubic metres of hydrocarbon contaminated materials, of which 7,000 cubic metres were treated by bioremediation utilising the services of our in-house technical division VHE technology. Works were undertaken around a major substation and under multiple overhead cables. VHE grouted the underground structures that were too large to remove and new construction utilized these as foundations. Other structures were left in place.

The bulk earthworks carried out involved a cut and fill operation of approximately 350,000 cubic metres to achieve the final ground levels, together with clean capping over the majority of the site. This included more than 160,000 tonnes of concrete, building rubble and reinforcement either in-situ or stockpiled by the demolition contractor together with 55,000 cubic metres of unstable river valley silts and sands, 3,500 tonnes of mangled reinforcement still encased in concrete and 7,000 cubic metres of soil heavily contaminated with oil, petrol and diesel.