A Northern Ontario Landmark Comes Down
For more than five decades, the Vale Superstack has loomed over Sudbury, Ontario, as one of the most recognizable industrial landmarks in the country. Now, that skyline is changing fast. Demolition crews began tearing down the 381-metre-tall smokestack on June 1, and the structure has been steadily losing height ever since.
According to updates shared by Vale Base Metals, which owns the Superstack as part of its Copper Cliff processing facility, the tower had already lost 64 metres by late July, bringing it down to 317 metres. Vale has been documenting the teardown with regular progress reports, including a diagram showing just how much of the top section has already been removed in under two months of work.
From Record-Holder to Runner-Up
The Superstack's fall from the top of Canada's tallest-structures list happened quietly. Until recently, it held the title of the country's second-tallest structure, trailing only the CN Tower in Toronto. But with demolition chipping away at its height week by week, that silver-medal status has now quietly passed to Toronto's Pinnacle SkyTower, which stands at just under 352 metres.
It's a notable handoff for a structure that has held onto its place in Canadian engineering history for over 50 years. Built between 1970 and 1972, the Superstack briefly held the title of Canada's tallest structure of any kind before the CN Tower opened a few years later and took the crown. It also held an international record of its own: from 1971 to 1987, it was recognized as the tallest power plant chimney in the world, a title it lost to the Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station in Kazakhstan. Even after that, it remained the tallest smokestack in the Western Hemisphere for years.
Why the Superstack Is Coming Down
The chimney was originally built to disperse sulphur dioxide emissions from Vale's nickel and copper smelting operations high into the atmosphere, reducing their impact on the surrounding area. But as the company has modernized its emissions-control technology over the years, the massive stack has become less necessary for day-to-day operations, leading to the decision to decommission and dismantle it.
For Sudbury residents, the demolition marks the end of an era for a structure that has defined the city's skyline — and its identity as a mining and smelting hub — since the early 1970s. Locals have watched the tower shrink in real time over the summer as crews work through the teardown in stages.
While the Superstack won't be missed for its environmental legacy, its sheer scale made it a genuine engineering marvel, one that held national and even global records for decades. As demolition continues in the coming weeks, Canada's list of tallest structures will keep shifting, with Toronto's Pinnacle SkyTower now holding down the number two spot behind the CN Tower.
Source: blogTO
