The pit - Photo: Jarold Dumouchel
The Dickson incinerator in Montreal

The Dickson incinerator in Montreal

Jarold Dumouchel &

Pierre Bourgault &

Photos by

The Dickson incinerator in Montreal

The pollution plant

Montréal (Quebec), Canada

Built in 1954, the Dickson incinerator was, at the time, the most modern one in North America. It was built to replace these old incinerators where horses were used for harvesting waste.

In the 1920s, the city of Montreal was struggling with dumps that gave off strong emanations, sources of diseases of any kind. That explains why at the end of the decade, it was decided to build a first incinerator at the corner of Papineau and des Carrières Street and a second on Atwater Street.

But, with the advent of the first garbage dumpsters, the existing facilities became obsolete and a new incinerator was required. In 1954 began the construction of the new incinerators on Dickson Street and Royal mount avenue (the latter has been destroyed.) The unloading platforms were located above street level to facilitate the unloading of trucks and allow the discharge of waste directly into large pits. Also, the exterior routes to access the platforms were heated to prevent ice formation during winter and all operations were mechanized and dry waste was organized to burn without fuel. The heat emitted by combustion was recovered and used to heat municipal buildings nearby.

The Dickson incinerator was equipped with two chimneys and represented, at the time, a gem in waste management technology. However, as this source of pollution was too large, it was responsible for the degradation of the air in the area. The authorities decided to cease all activities in 1978.

Sources:

Related content

The neurons poet's abandoned plant
the neurons poet's abandoned plant
Montréal, Quebec (Canada)

The plant itself is definitively not as great at we saw in other places. Located in the heart of Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood of Montreal, this two storey building has no longer the cachet of its heyday. While neighboring buildings are...

Learn more
The old board mill
the old board mill
Estrie, Quebec (Canada)

It was October 3, 2014 when it has been heard for the last time the siren for the end of the work shift. The last 180 employees picked up their belongings and closed the door behind them, thus ending an industrial history of over 125 years.

...
Learn more
The abandoned cement factory of Los Santos
the abandoned cement factory of Los Santos
Los Santos, (Spain)

When I was a kid, I often traveled with my parents and my brothers in Los Santos, the village where I was born. Each time when we approached, my father used to say: "Beware, I will give a penny to the first one who will see the smoke of the plant...

Learn more
The old Minas de Riotinto locomotives
the old Minas de Riotinto locomotives
Minas de Riotinto, (Spain)

We are talking about over 5000 years of mining history in this area. The landscape has been changed forever, and it looks at some places like a alien planet where red, yellow, purple mingle with green, gray and ocher.

The ten abandoned...

Learn more