Thames Valley Police (TVP) have made limited progress in the clean-up work at Didcot power station, following the collapse on the site on 23 February.
The incident resulted in the death of one worker from demolition firm Coleman & Company, and three remain missing, despite a recovery operation now into its second month.
Around 20,000 tonnes of debris remain on the site. Of the debris and steel work removed, approximately 250 pieces of differing sizes and weights have been removed for evidence processing.
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A police statement said: “Clearance of the debris pile is progressing and up to 40 metres of the overall pile has been cleared so far.
“These debris removal works are ongoing seven days a week, from dawn to dusk. Whilst to date everything is progressing to plan, due to the complex nature of the collapse the recovery phase will still take some time.”
The partial collapse of the boiler house at the Oxfordshire power station was declared “a major incident”, with TVP and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertaking a joint investigation into the cause of the incident under the Work Related Deaths Protocol.
Around 20,000 tonnes of debris remain on the site
The Didcot site is owned and operated by energy firm RWE. Following agreement with TVP and HSE on 19 March, RWE started the clearance process on a section of the debris pile that was designated as safe and which is furthest away from the remaining structure.
The police statement said: “HSE and TVP are continuing to progress the investigation, interviewing witnesses and gathering intelligence and evidence. This investigation is running alongside the recovery phase.
“Specialists from a range of disciplines including forensic archaeologists, metallurgists and structural engineers are supporting the work, with drones and other camera equipment being used to capture information about the debris pile and the standing structure which remains in an unsafe condition.”
Debris removal works are ongoing seven days a week, from dawn to dusk
Howard Button, president of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, told CM that the Didcot collapse could lead to a rethink on the Construction (Design & Management) regulations.
He said: “The company involved, Coleman & Company, are a very experienced company, their procedures are second to none. Nobody can understand what has gone tragically wrong.
“It could take months or years to find out, but we are expecting that eventually there will be some new guidelines in place for demolition and possibly lead to new ones by the HSE to make things clearer and standards tighter, as it’s been such a serious incident.”
The TVP statement added: “Our thoughts remain with the families affected by this tragic incident and specialist officers from TVP continue to support the families, providing them with regular updates on the progress of the recovery effort.”
