Łódź, a construction disaster. Why drilling under Łódź is extremely difficult

On Saturday, part of the outbuilding of a tenement house at ul. 1 maja 23 in Łódź, in the very center of the city, collapsed. Right after the tragedy, the investor of the construction of a railway tunnel under the city emphasized that the building was in poor technical condition, and the tenement house did not even have a basement. – It's normal in Łódź – shrugs an experienced construction worker, Andrzej Adamiak. He emphasizes that without his participation, no major renovation of a historic building in Łódź has taken place. He also worked on the renovation of the old town in Tallinn, Estonia, and coordinated work at the castle in Otwock. In a word – he knows the problems associated with old structures very well.

– At first glance, you can see that the collapsed annex was “glued” to the wall of the neighboring tenement house. Today, this would not be allowed, no construction could lean against another building. But walking around the Łódź city center, you will easily find dozens of such cases – says the expert.

In his opinion, the disaster occurred because elements of the collapsed outbuilding – most likely under the influence of vibrations caused by digging an underground tunnel – “peeled off” from the tenement house standing next to it.

– When the structure had nothing to lean on, everything collapsed. That's how gravity works – says the expert.

– Building without any foundations and based on the neighbours' structures was common in the mid-19th century, when the city was experiencing rapid development – says Michał Koliński, an expert on the city and author of several books about its history.

He emphasizes that during the rapid development of the city, the number of residents increased by dozens of times. – No one thought about building buildings that would stand for hundreds of years. It had to be built quickly, as cheaply as possible. The idea was for the owner to have an income and for the tenants to have a roof over their heads – emphasizes the tvn24.pl interviewee.

The tenement houses that appeared one after another in the heart of multicultural Łódź were often richly decorated (to increase the value of the premises located there), but their technical condition varied greatly.

– Digging foundations increased the costs. While some buildings standing on the streets sometimes had them, the annexes added later were almost always built on leveled stones thrown on the ground – adds Andrzej Adamiak.

In pre-war Łódź, four cultures mixed – Polish, German, Jewish and Russian. – Jews were most often involved in building tenement houses and renting premises. In the nightmare of World War II, many owners lost their lives. After 1945, a significant part of the buildings in the heart of the city passed into the management of the city council.

– Few people cared about common property back then. Officials also preferred to spend money on other things than maintaining the tenement houses in good technical condition – emphasizes Michał Koliński.

– It happened that the tenants themselves devastated their surroundings. Because if something was common, it was nobody's – adds Andrzej Adamiak.

The progressive degradation of the condition of hundreds of tenement houses that make up the heart of Łódź was facilitated by the fact that the attention and efforts of public services were focused on other cities.

– It was necessary to rebuild the ruined Warsaw, to help other metropolises rise from the rubble. And Łódź was not very damaged, so it could wait. And so it waited until it was too late for many buildings – adds Michał Koliński.

The 90s and the political changes in Poland did not bring good news to Łódź. The decline of the textile industry meant poverty for many residents. And poverty was associated with alcohol, violence and vandalism. The previously neglected city centre began to be a scary place.

– We worked on an ad hoc basis. We did everything in our power to prevent the buildings from collapsing. I participated in many works involving grouting in the outbuildings of buildings. We poured concrete to stiffen the structure without foundations – says Andrzej Adamiak.

For over a dozen years, Łódź has been trying to restore the good condition of buildings in the city center. In February this year we described what area revitalization is. As part of this, not only buildings are being renovated, but new infrastructure is also being created around them. – So far, we have managed to revitalize over 115 buildings, including 60 tenement houses and 50 general spaces. I mean various sections of roads, parks, playgrounds, passages. 900 new apartments, 170 commercial premises and 50 sheltered apartments for people with disabilities have been created – Olga Kassyańska from the City of Łódź Office listed in February this year.

This, however, does not change the fact that dozens of buildings are still in very poor condition. Michał Koliński, the author of books on the history of the city, emphasizes that digging a tunnel under the city is a big risk, but one that – as he emphasizes very strongly – had to be decided.

– This is one of the most important investments in the history of the city. Łódź may become one of the key communication points in the country. With such large investments, very unpleasant incidents happen. However, this does not mean that we can give up on the tunnel – emphasizes the tvn24.pl interlocutor.