B&B Wrecking crews implode former Ohio power plant

The demolition of the W.H. Sammis Plant in Jefferson County, Ohio, continued with the implosion of two smokestacks at the north end of the property on April 12.

As reported by the Wheeling News-Register, approximately one mile of Ohio Route 7 near the plant was closed for about an hour while crews removed the smokestacks, which stood about 500 feet high, and four boilers from the site and cleared the roadway of any debris.

The work is part of an ongoing demolition of the former power plant by Cleveland demolition company B&B Wrecking & Excavating. Crews have been working on the site since it was acquired by Energy Transition and Environmental Management of Houston. 

The plant was closed in 2023 by Energy Harbor, which cited a desire to shift from coal-fired power plants to carbon-free nuclear plants that were more compliant with federal environmental regulations.

It opened in 1962 and gained recognition for its 625-megawatt generator in the March 1967 issue of Forbes magazine. It was followed by another generator, with a capacity to produce 650 megawatts of power, in 1971.
Plans call for additional facilities to be removed in the future, though that may not occur until next year, the Wheeling News-Register reports. 

Officials with B&B Wrecking & Excavating said cranes will be used to remove them, with Ohio 7 again temporarily closed for the public’s safety. Efforts by the demolition firm are intended to make the property available for new development. 

Working with engineers and other contractors, the company also has removed, through detonation, a wall of ductwork that carried air and particulate matter to the plant’s smokestacks. The ductwork included multiple sections, each weighing between 50 and 200 tons, which were removed by cranes and other equipment.

Crews also pulled down two absorber tanks, also used in pollution control, that each stood 150 feet high and weighed about 850 tons.

A video courtesy of B&B Wrecking Project Manager Bryan Donatelli shows the implosion: