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Relocation of historic building in central Baku completed

2 May 2013 11:34 (UTC+04:00)
Relocation of historic building in central Baku completed

By Sara Rajabova

Dutch Bresser Eurasia company has successfully completed the process of relocating an historic building located in the center of Baku, according to CEO of Bresser Eurasia BV Leon Sweegers.

Sweegers said at a press conference on Wednesday that the relocation of the building -- the house of Hajinski brothers on Fizuli (formerly Basin) Street -- started on April 23 and was fully completed on April 27.

"We have implemented the transfer of the largest building in the history of the company...Instead of five days, the process took four days. Overall, the work went on for 40 hours," he said.

The CEO noted that the project employed more than 100 people.

"We are pleased with the successful completion of the work on the relocation and are proud to have maintained this building in its architectural and historical value for future generations," Sweegers said.

Bresser Eurasia BV founder Herman Bresser said it will take another two weeks to put the building on a new foundation, which "will be even more reliable and robust than the former."

According to Bresser, the preparatory process in carrying out the relocation is the most difficult and requires precise calculations. During the calculations the sustainability of buildings to an eight-point magnitude earthquake is also taken into account both during the transfer process and after it.

Mayor of Baku Hajibala Abutalibov said that the house of Hajinski brothers got a new, more solid foundation and city residents will be able to return to their apartments in a couple of weeks.

The weight of the building is up to 18,000 tons, while its length is 52 meters and its width 32 meters, and height 20 meters. The historical building has been moved 10.6 meters away.

The process of relocation was shown on live stream video all around the world. One can see how the building was moving from one place to another via time-laps photography.

The process and the whole project was under special control of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The historical building on Fizuli Street was constructed in 1908 and belonged to the Hajinski brothers who were millionaires of Baku.

Recently, the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan and Bresser Eurasia BV signed a memorandum of understanding. The document was signed by Chairman of the Union Elbay Gasimzade and Bresser Eurasia BV CEO Leon Sweegers.

The document provides for cooperation in various fields, including assistance in the growth of construction in the Azerbaijan cities, close cooperation in the training of highly qualified specialists, exchange of experience on engineering and construction, as well as the implementation of various joint projects.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Union of Architects said that Baku has a prospect of being included in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Gasimzade said in his interview with Echo newspaper that Bresser Eurasia BV, which carried out the work on the relocation of the monumental building on Fizuli Street, is currently in talks with the Guinness Book of World Records for inclusion of the transfer of this building.

The building weighing 18 tons is the heaviest one in the world, which was relocated at such a distance.

Gasimzade noted that there are several instances in history regarding the relocation of such monumental buildings.

"In particular, in the middle of the XVIII century a palace of one of the kings of France was shifted nearly 200 meters. Moreover, the entire process was carried out manually. Besides, even under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Moscow Soviet building was moved 30 meters and the building of the Izvestia publishing house changed its location for the same distance," he said.

Bresser Eurasia BV has 30 years of experience in the relocation of various buildings, mostly in western Europe, and the total number of the buildings relocated by the company is 35.

Bresser Eurasia founder Bresser said earlier that the company had implemented many projects in western Europe.

He said that in many cases, the relocations are related with these buildings' having cultural and historical values and their protection.

"For example, we moved the building, which was constructed in 1904 Holland's Rosenthal city, to 1,500-meter distance," Bresser said.

The projects of the company also include relocation of a villa as well as a stadium in the Netherlands.

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