Santa Susana Field Laboratory Environmental Cleanup and Closure
Top of Page (AccessKey T)
  1. Home
  2. Cleanup
  3. Demolition
  4. Phase 5

Demolition Phase Five

Thumbnail of Phase 5 map showing approximately 200 acres, highlighting the area of the Bravo Test Stands and control houses in NASA Area 2.

Map of Phase 5 demolition

Phase 5 demolition includes the removal of the two remaining test stands and control house in the Bravo Test Area.

Locations

Demolition Phase Updates

Phase 5 Demolition Progress

Published 5/26/2023

These photos show the progress of the Phase 5 demolition activities between 2021 and 2022.

Bravo Test Area
This photo shows the Bravo Test Stands prior to demolition, and fully intact. The stands are blue metal on the bottom, with white tanks stacked on top. Atop the entire stand are large flare stacks that look like exhaust pipes protruding from the top. Large rock outcrops and blue skies are in the background, against which the Bravo Stands are situated.
June 2021
This photo is from a similar angle, after demolition. The same large rock outcrops are in the background. The hillside has been graded and dirt, rock outcrops, and trees and shrubs are all that remain, aside from some straw wattles and strategically placed rocks that are being used for erosion control purposes.
May 2022
A large crane is shown on the ground, adjacent to the Bravo Test Stands. Attached to the end of the crane is one of the very large flare stacks, which looks like a large pipe with a bucket-shaped top. It is being lowered to the ground at the worksite in front of the Bravo stands.
Demolition crews remove on of the flare stacks, or "tiki torches" from the Bravo Test Stands.
In this photo, you see the base of a large crane truck. In front of the truck, tied to large cables is a yellow crane end, that has just been removed from the Bravo Test Stands. Workers stand on a concrete slab surrounding the crane, as it is being placed onto the ground.
Workers stand to the side as the old Bravo Test Stand crane is lowered to the ground.
This photo shows a close-up view of the top of Bravo Test Stand 2. The yellow crane on top of the test stand is being pulled away from the stand, and attached to cables of a larger crane that extends up from the ground. The four flare stacks are still intact on top of the test stand and are shown in this photo next to the crane arm being removed from the stand.
One of the first things removed from Bravo Test Stand 2 was the crane at the top of the stand that was used to move engines into place for testing.
This photo shows a view of the Bravo Test Stands just as demolition was beginning. A large crane stands towers over the Bravo Test stands, which are still fully intact, containing three large flare stacks at the top, and a large, yellow crane end extends from the top side of the test stand.
Bravo demolition began in June 2021.

NASA Preparing to Resume Demolition Activities at SSFL

Published 5/19/2021
Oct 2020: This photo shows one of the Bravo Test Stands, built into the bedrock. The test stand frame is a light blue and two white tanks stand vertically above the frame. Three black exhaust pipes stick up from the very top of the stand. In the background is sky and mountains in the distance.
Bravo Test Stand

This spring, NASA is preparing to kick off the next phase of its demolition program at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory—a necessary and important step in the cleanup process. During Phase 5, NASA will demolish the Bravo test stands and control house.

Phase 5 is the continuation of NASA’s demolition program that began in 2015, in accordance with NASA’s Demolition Standard Operating Procedures, approved by DTSC in 2011, and the 2014 NASA Record of Decision for Demolition External site icon . Following the completion of Phase 4 in February 2020, NASA announced its decision in April 2020 to end the deferral of the demolition of test stands and to proceed with demolition of the Bravo and Coca Test Areas.

Pre-demolition work will begin next month, as crews mobilize in the field and complete biological surveys and make other preparations to ensure demolition activities are conducted in a manner that protects the health and safety of workers, the public, and cultural and biological resources. NASA anticipates it will complete demolition of the Bravo test stands and control house by the end of 2022. Coca demolition activities are expected to be part of a sixth phase and would begin sometime in 2023.

NASA is committed to keeping the public informed about Phase 5 demolition activities. The Demolition page of this website will include regular updates and photos of Phase 5 activities. You can sign up to receive notifications of updates to this website by subscribing to our NASA SSFL Communications E-List External site icon.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Official: Peter Zorba
NASA SSFL E-List: Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Help
Note: Subscribe and unsubscribe emails do not require subject or body text.
Page Editor: John Tapp
Adobe Reader may be used to read PDF documents on this site. Get Acrobat Reader
Unless otherwise indicated, all images are provided by NASA.