Model of Kiruna with red lines delineating areas of damage due to mining. Image Credit: Geson Rathnow
LKAB, Sweden's state-owned mining company, is Kiruna's largest employer. It's also slowly undercutting the town, which is starting to crack and sink towards the mine. And so Sweden’s northernmost town is moving two miles east, in order to avoid falling in.
LKAB has already invested $612 million in moving the town center east. The idea is to rebuild the entire town, including sewage, electrical systems, apartment buildings and houses.
From Kiruna’s English-language website:
Deformations occur long before cracks appear. Just a few centimetres of subsidence can damage electricity lines and water pipes. Buildings are affected later. This was why the electricity supply system and the main sewage line in the affected area had to be relocated at an early stage.
In the coming 20-25 years, the mining will affect approximately 2 500 apartments as well as approximately 200 000 square meters of commercial, office, school and health care premises.
The entire project won’t be complete until around 2100, but, ideally, the town's people and businesses will start moving earlier than that. Homeowners will be paid more than market value for their land and sold a new home in the new city. But figuring out how to make sure everyone is happy is a challenge. Also a challenge: finding workers to build the city, and housing for the workers.
No comments:
Post a Comment