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| Swedish town moves as iron mine looms to swallow it  Europe's biggest iron ore mine – the mine behind the town of Kiruna's very existence - is now endangering it. With help from Ramboll, the town is moving two miles to the East to avoid being absorbed.Cracks are appearing in the Swedish town of Kiruna that was built around an iron mine more than 100 years ago. As extractions for the giant iron ore extend under the centre of town, waste rock causes the ground to shift. If Sweden's northernmost town does not move, it will simply sink into the earth. Therefore work has begun to move more than 30% of Kiruna approximately two miles to the East. 20,000 people on the move Over the next 20 years, almost 20,000 people will move into new homes, built around a new town centre, as the iron mine gradually swallows the old community. So, buildings will be moved and new houses and streets will be built on old industrial land, which puts environmental demands in focus. Ramboll's job is to prepare the land for the construction, and ensure that the old industrial land fulfils the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's directions for usage of risk-sensitive land. The new central area will accommodate important institutions such as hospitals, high school, library, police office and a number of cultural buildings together with 3,000 households and hotels, workplaces and Kiruna's commercial centre. Pollution-free land The area that will become Kiruna's new commercial centre is around 20 hectare, and so far different kinds of pollution have been found. - Our work includes developing guidelines for environmental controlling as well as testing of volumes in order to classify the soil according to the directions for usage of risk-sensitive land, says Peter Ögren, Project Manager at Ramboll Environment & Health, continuing: - We are analysing on field, but primarily in laboratories. The new commercial centre will be built on pollution-free land that fulfils the directions for usage of risk-sensitive land, which is important since the area will be residential, says Peter Ögren. The number of people involved in a project of this scale exceeds the thousands and includes city planners, architects, landscape designers, biologists, urban designers, civil engineers, demolition and construction experts and builders, as well as social anthropologists. International inspiration City officials and mining company officers have been around the world looking at how Germany and parts of Africa have handled similar projects, but they are just moving small villages and houses, not huge city centres. Among the buildings which must make the move are the town's ice hotel, and a red wooden church which was voted the country's most beautiful building in 2001. The first buildings around the town square and the shopping street are estimated to be completed in 2019. By Michael Rothenborg & Anna Nourani write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Construction News :: home page |