Prague hygienists will oversee the demolition at the former Telecom site, where there is asbestos

Prague - Hygienists will oversee the demolition of the former Central Telecommunications building in Prague 3, during which materials containing cancer-causing asbestos will be removed. According to estimates, there are approximately 3,350 tons of asbestos-containing materials in six buildings on Olšanská Street. The demolition, along with the removal of asbestos materials, is planned in five phases from the second half of January to the end of this October. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) announced this today.

On Olšanská Street, the developer Central Group is preparing to construct apartments on the site of the former Telecom complex, which includes a 96-meter-high telecommunications tower. Along with the tower, four other unused buildings and a pumping station will be demolished. Asbestos is present in the cladding of columns and beams, internal partitions, and roofing materials, among other places.

"Before the work begins, an inspection of the construction technical readiness will be carried out, and subsequently, unannounced inspections focusing on health and safety compliance will be conducted," the Prague hygienists stated. They added that the building envelopes do not contain asbestos according to the construction technical survey, as they were replaced during the renovation in 1999.

The remediation will be carried out by the Bratislava company Dilmun System. Work with asbestos-containing materials will be conducted in enclosed negative pressure zones either inside the buildings or within wooden structures covered with thick-walled foil, the company reported to the hygienists. Workers and materials will pass through decontamination chambers between the negative pressure zones and the environment. After the work is completed, the concentration of asbestos in the air will be measured in each space. A total of 64 measurements are planned, and the hygienists will review the reports before the negative pressure zones are lifted.

At the site of the Telecom buildings in Prague 3, Central Group was preparing apartments in towers up to 100 meters high designed by the architecture studio of Eva Jiřičná and Petr Vágner. The company announced last summer that it would revise the project in response to the observation mission of UNESCO in 2019, which required that new constructions in the area not exceed the height of the surrounding approximately fifty-meter buildings. The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) subsequently stated that the project revision is a result of a change in the city's stance.