During the work of the TBM “Katarzyna” shield, which is boring a railway tunnel under Łódź, a construction disaster occurred on Saturday in one of the tenement houses on 1 Maja Street. – The wall and ceilings collapsed – the District Building Inspector informed tvn24.pl. – I saw from the window how the ceilings slowly began to bend, and then, less than three minutes later, everything collapsed – said Mrs. Weronika, who lives in a neighboring building. The day before, the floor collapsed in one of the premises of the building under which the work is taking place.
The collapse of ceilings and a wall occurred on Saturday in a building at 23 1 Maja Street in Łódź. There was no one in the premises where the floor had collapsed the day before. The residents had already been moved to temporary premises for the duration of the works. The incident was reported in a press release PKP Polish Railway Lines.
“During the work of TBM Katarzyna on the excavation of the tunnel in Łódź under 1 Maja Street 23, a floor collapse was found in the outbuilding of the building in one of the rooms on the ground floor. The scene of the incident has been secured, and the appropriate services are working on site. The building is empty, and the residents have been relocated for the duration of the TBM shield's passage under the properties. The contractor, while remaining in touch with them, will inform them about further steps. A detailed consultation was held with the resident of the indicated premises. Further decisions will be made after further analysis of the technical condition,” said Anna Znajewska-Pawlu from the PKP PLK press team.
In one of the apartments in a tenement house in Łódź, the floor collapsedTVN24
In one of the apartments in a tenement house in Łódź, the floor collapsedTVN24
Construction disaster in Łódź
On Friday, the District Building Inspectorate in Łódź had not yet reported any serious damage to the building. – I am not confirming that the ceilings have collapsed. There are some subtle symptoms, some slight scratches, but today – without analyzing the photographic documentation from recent weeks and months – we are not able to answer the question of whether they are fresh or old – Bohdan Wielanek told us on Friday evening.
The moment of collapse of the wall of a tenement house in ŁódźLDZ Motorized Lodz Citizens
The wall of a tenement house in Łódź collapsedPINB in Łódź
But on Saturday afternoon he reported that the situation was serious. – There was a construction disaster, a wall and ceilings collapsed over a width of about six meters over the entire height of the building – reported Bohdan Wielanek on Saturday after 2 p.m.
Read also: “Faustyna” is almost finished, “Katarzyna” is in trouble. They are building the “Łódź metro”
Tunnel excavation has been suspended
A statement was also issued by PKP Polish Railway Lines.
“We confirm that part of the residential building at Al. 1 Maja 23 in Łódź has been significantly damaged. The causes of the incident are being verified and further actions are being planned. The Contractor responsible for the work is in contact with all relevant services and residents who have been relocated to a hotel for the duration of the work,” Anna Znajewska-Pawlu from the PKP PLK Press Team said in a statement.
In a later statement, she added that “the contractor is holding individual talks with residents, informing them about the current situation and possible compensations”. “From tomorrow, legal support for residents will be launched, to explain the possibilities of pursuing claims and prepare applications in their case. The property of the damaged tenement house has been secured and is being guarded 24 hours a day”, she assured.
The tunnel excavation work was temporarily suspended. The railway workers recalled that even before the work began, the building was not in the best technical condition. As they pointed out, “it is a tenement house from the beginning of the 20th century, without a basement and solid foundations”.
The city will provide new apartments
– The city will provide residents with municipal housing of a standard no worse than the one they have lived in so far. Anyone who contacts us with such a request – and most of these people will probably not be able to return to this tenement house – will be provided with an apartment from the municipal resources – assured Paweł Śpiechowicz, spokesman for the City of Łódź Office, in an interview with tvn24.pl. He later said that “these will be renovated premises in revitalized tenement houses.”
The spokesman reported that the tenement house was inhabited by over 60 people, including a dozen or so children. All of them had been relocated earlier due to work on the construction of a tunnel under Łódź. According to plans, the tenants were to return to their apartments on September 16, so they have a guaranteed place to stay at least until then.
A resident of a nearby tenement house who recorded the moment the tenement house collapsedTVN24
The crisis team will develop a further action plan
Representatives of the investor, PKP PLK, contractors and the district building inspector are currently participating in the meeting of the crisis team, which will develop a further plan of action – primarily regarding the future of the damaged building and the possibility of continuing the construction of the tunnel to the Łódź Fabryczna station.
– We are also waiting for these findings, even though the tenement house at al. 1 Maja 23 is private property and any compensation for its damage is a matter between the owner and the investor – noted the spokesman for the city office.
Śpiechowicz explained that most likely next week representatives of city institutions will meet with the residents of the destroyed tenement house.
“I heard this thud”
TVN24 reporter Katarzyna Pasikowska-Poczopko spoke to a resident of a nearby tenement house who recorded the moment the wall of the building at 1 Maja Street collapsed.
– We expected it to happen sooner or later. I recorded this video, which is now everywhere. I happened to be in the kitchen, I wanted to boil some water and I heard this crash, I went to the third floor and started recording and I just took out my phone and it collapsed – described the man. He added that after the wall collapsed, “it was calm”. – What was supposed to fall, probably already did – assessed the Łódź resident.
The collapse of the tenement house was also observed by other tenants from the neighboring building. “I saw from my window how the ceilings slowly started to sag, and then, within three minutes, everything collapsed. We were also supposed to be evicted for the duration of the works, but finally, two months ago, we were informed that we were staying. Now, even though the machine is not passing directly under our house, we feel the shocks and vibrations,” said Mrs. Weronika.
As she argued, earlier news of the floor collapse had already caused concern among local residents, who gathered in the street, waiting for someone to give them some information. “A lot of people were standing and waiting for someone to talk to them, but no one was interested in them,” she added.
Tunnel construction delayed
This is one of the largest investments currently underway in Poland. The cross-city tunnel under Łódź is a continuation of the construction of the Łódź Fabryczna station, which will change from a terminal station to a through station. Regional and long-distance trains will be able to travel through the very center of Łódź.
In the future, the cross-city tunnel is to connect the Fabryczny railway station in Łódź with the Łódź Kaliska stations (towards Sieradz, Kalisz) and Żabieniec stations (towards Kutno, Łowicz) and will shorten the travel time of trains on the Warsaw – Poznań and Wrocław routes.
As part of the investment, new stops will also be built: Łódź Polesie, Łódź Śródmieście and Łódź Koziny.
Under the city centre, which is full of historic (and unfortunately often very dilapidated) tenement houses, a 7.5-kilometre tunnel is being dug by two shields. The two-track section from Łódź Fabryczna to Koziny is being dug by the larger of the two shields – “Katarzyna”. Four single-track tunnels west of the Koziny stop are being dug by the smaller shield – “Faustyna” (TBM is an abbreviation of the English name – tunnel boring machine).
This is what the tunnel under Łódź is supposed to look like – visualization02.07. | “Katarzyna” and “Faustyna” are two machines boring railway tunnels under the very center of Łódź. The investment, called the “Łódź metro”, is to enable train traffic from the recently built Fabryczny station to the west and make it one of the most important railway junctions in Poland. In addition, three new stops will be built, which will mainly serve the city's residents.PKP PLK
The underground railway connection was initially scheduled to be completed in 2024, with train traffic starting in 2025. According to the current schedule, the tunnels are to be ready in June 2026, and trains are to run under the city in December 2026.
The value of the project is over two billion zlotys gross. The basic contract with the contractor PBDiM has increased by approximately 380 million zlotys. Why? PKP PLK explains that with such large investments “there are many additional circumstances that are difficult to predict and affect the increase in investment costs and the completion date”.
– During the contract, the first leader of the consortium, Energopol Szczecin, went bankrupt, the prices of energy resources, steel and other materials increased, supply chains were extended, and there was a shortage of workers. The reasons for these events were inflationthe Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine – Rafał Wilgusiak from PKP PLK enumerated in July.
The tunnel is to run under the very center of Łódź.PKP PLK
The costs are also higher because during construction it turned out that the ground along the tunnel route had to be reinforced much more than planned.
Main image source: LDZ Motorized Lodz Citizens