We're going to need a huge removal van! Sweden is forced to move a whole CITY after mining caused massive cracks



Kiruna in Sweden's far north is being relocated to new land two miles east

Decision was taken in 2004 and has been planned for nearly a decade

Mining company said recovering more iron ore could destabilising city



3,000 apartments and houses are being relocated over two decades



A mission is underway to move an entire Swedish city after mining caused cracks to appear underground.



Kiruna in Sweden's far north is being relocated to new land two miles east after the country's state-controlled mining company alerted authorities in 2004 that recovering more iron ore from the Kiruna mine meant further excavation, destabilising the city's centre.

Mining company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB, or LKAB is Kiruna's largest employer and the municipality began drawing up plans to relocate the city of 23,000.



Relocation: A mission is underway to move a city in Sweden after cracks due to mines in the area caused cracks under buildings

Lifeblood: Sweden's Kiruna Mine. Mining company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB, or LKAB is Kiruna's largest employer and the municipality began drawing up plans to relocate the city of 23,000

The Wall Street Journal reported that 3,000 apartments and houses are being relocated, along with 2.2million square foot of offices and government buildings over the next two decades.

Last week the final train rolled out of the city's platform.

'It feels a bit nostalgic and a little sad,' one resident, Mia Mörtlund, told Sveriges Radio, reflecting the views of many residents who feel more sentimental about the old city than angry at the prospect of relocating to a new one.



Plan: Kiruna in Sweden's far north is being relocated to new land two miles east

'For most people in Kiruna the fact that the town and its inhabitants will have to move is accepted as part of life,' Mikael Stenqvist, an architect at White, told The Independent.

Most buildings will simply be torn down, but some of those seen as being Kiruna landmarks will be dismantled and reassembled in their entirety at new locations, reported AFP.



This includes Kiruna’s old church, which in 2001 was voted the most beautiful building in Sweden - when the final stages of the relocation are complete it will be lifted onto a lorry and transported in one piece.

LKAB, which has agreed to pay a large proportion of the transformation has said it is impossible to accurately ascertain the cost of the move.

But so far it has given 3.5 billion kronor ($532 million) to the project as well as ring marking, an extra SEK7.5 billion for the remaining costings.





