POLAND: Streets are closed and approximately hundred people evacuated in Warsaw after construction on the city's second metro line causes significant subsidence in the city centre.

Record ID: 216343

  • Title: POLAND: Streets are closed and approximately hundred people evacuated in Warsaw after construction on the city's second metro line causes significant subsidence in the city centre.
  • Date: 5th October 2012
  • Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (OCTOBER 5, 2012) (REUTERS) TOP VIEW: METRO LINE BUILDING SITE AND SUBSIDENCE PAVEMENT SUBSIDENCE AND WORKERS PAVEMENT SUBSIDENCE AND CEMENT FILLING HOLE TO FIRM UP BUILDINGS' FOUNDATIONS HOLE SHOWING NEW PART OF METRO STATION VARIOUS OF COLLAPSED ROAD AND PAVEMENT FIREFIGHTERS AND GAS WORKERS TRAM TECHNICIANS AND POLICE NEXT TO CLOSED ROAD VARIOUS
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Accidents,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA7ZMKM6Q27OAJIQJ8EYSKAENDO
  • Story Text: Streets were closed and approximately a hundred people were evacuated in Warsaw on Friday (October 5) after construction on the city's second metro line caused significant subsidence in the city centre.
    The large hole that appeared earlier on Friday caused part of a road and a pavement to collapse into the trench dug for the new East-West underground line.
    Although there were no injuries, the incident resulted in the evacuation of two buildings; a residential structure and an office building.
    Authorities took the precaution so that they could assess if there was any risk of the building's foundations collapsing.
    It is not yet known exactly how the twelve-metre length hole was created or how deep it is, but it is thought that Warsaw's soft sedimentary geological make up and a water leak at the new metro line construction site could be to blame.
    Warsaw's Deputy Mayor, Jacek Wojciechowicz described the size of the subsidence, "We know for sure that the ground subsided and we estimate that it was about 400 cubic meters, this is most probably due to the geological conditions that we have here in Warsaw. Please note that it did not subside onto the station itself but into an area behind the station's exterior wall, where another building and its foundations are," he said.
    Queues of trucks carrying large amounts of cement and earth had to be drafted in to fill the hole and repair the damage.
    Although the event caused a large amount of disruption to the city it is not anticipated to delay the construction the new metro line which will run under the Vistula River and link East and West Warsaw.
    Deputy Mayor Wojciechowicz said that he did not expect the incident to delay the opening of the transport link, "From the technical point of view and from the contractors point of view we will stick to the plan to finish by the end of 2013 and we will be opening the central section of this second metro line in 2014 and from then we will be able to use it from Daszynski to Wilenski railway station. This is not the kind of setback that would influence the construction in any significant way. We have had similar situations during the building works, of course without such consequences. These sorts of things are to be expected during the construction process."
    As a consequence of the incident the surrounding area was left without water, gas and electricity.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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