The Mining Office has approved the continuation of drilling in Stromovka

Prague - The Mining Authority has permitted further excavation of the Blanka tunnel in Prague's Stromovka. ČTK was informed of this by Dušan Havel from the Czech Mining Institute. The construction of the tunnel in Stromovka was halted after the ground collapsed here for the second time during excavation in October. The Czech Mining Authority is still conducting administrative proceedings to impose a fine on the construction company Metrostav, which is excavating the tunnel for the capital city. The police are also investigating the incident.
    The Mining Authority has allowed further excavation of both tunnel tubes. However, it has set conditions under which Metrostav can continue with the construction. "The company must secure the area at risk of possible collapse, and there must also be a permanent guard there," Havel said. He assured that the entire Stromovka would not be closed, only the areas of current excavation would be limited. City spokesman Jiří Wolf pointed out that fences above the tunnel were present even before the incident, but the tunnel collapsed while expanding several dozen meters in front of the excavation face. "If the Mining Authority has permitted this, it surely has its reasons," said Wolf. He reminded that the continuation of the tunnel construction is not related to the criminal complaint that the city filed against an unknown perpetrator for public endangerment.
    Metrostav must also reinforce the overburden above the excavated tunnel. "The measures are so strict that I must state that from a technical and economic perspective, this is the maximum that the company could do," Havel added.
    The Mining Authority is also conducting three administrative proceedings regarding the collapse in Stromovka. "One with the construction company regarding the imposition of a penalty, the second with an employee of the construction company, also regarding the imposition of a fine," Havel said. According to him, the third administrative proceeding concerns an employee of the design company, who faces the revocation of their license. Havel estimates that the closure of the administrative proceedings will occur by the end of February.
    The ground in Stromovka collapsed near the former Šlechtova restaurant, creating a crater with a diameter of about 30 meters; no one was injured. Just about 50 meters away from the October incident, the tunnel collapsed back in May.
    The construction of the northwestern section of the inner city bypass between Špejchar and the Pelc-Tyrolka intersection began last year. The road will go through tunnels under Letná and Stromovka. The costs for construction work will reach 21.2 billion crowns, and technology will cost an additional 4.5 billion crowns. The roads should be completed in 2011.