Project overview On behalf of SBB, Itenbau AG moved the old customs building about 30 metres into a holding position. After completion of the shell construction, the building was slid back over newly built basements. The first move was 30 metres with a gradient of 1.25%, 2° northwards. The second move was 28.75 metres, horizontally 1° southwards.
Challenges
The natural stone masonry walls and the large façade windows had to be treated with great care. The total weight of the building is 600 tonnes.
On Wednesday morning, 17 August 2022, more precisely between 8.30 a.m. and 12.00 noon, the innovation at the Swiss Federal Railways station in Lugano proved itself. The building, which once housed first the post office and later customs, and is today simply called the “service building”, was moved forty metres north to enable construction of the Besso pedestrian underpass. Relocating a concrete building of around 600 tonnes, 25 metres wide, 10 metres long and 9 metres high, was a genuine undertaking. A new foundation was also built, initially lifted off the ground, which will guarantee the building stability along its entire perimeter for the next century. The “sliding skids” with which the Ticino station building was pushed onto the concrete tracks were connected to this purpose-made new foundation. In September 2023 the old “service building” will return and take its place somewhat further north (about 15 metres) than its original position.