The shooter demolished the tram workshop hall in Hloubětín

Prague – The demolitions expert detonated the tram depot hall in Hloubětín on Saturday at 09:27. The building had a roof in urgent condition that was beyond repair. According to information from the Prague Public Transit Company, 126 kilograms of explosives were used for the destruction, and the building came down in ten seconds. After the demolition, the construction of a new depot will begin, which is expected to be completed in 2022 and is preliminarily estimated to cost 1.8 billion crowns. At the same time, the entire depot area will be reconstructed.

"After inspection, we found that everything went as planned. We didn't break anything extra, so I'm rating it very positively,” said the demolitions expert Vladimír Pravda to ČTK. "In terms of area coverage, it was a larger demolition; after all, it was a hall 100 by 150 meters," he added.

"I am glad that we managed to advance another major project. I am not thrilled that we have to demolish the depot because we lack it in operation, but in this case, there was no other solution. Several independent studies and assessments confirmed that the hall is beyond repair,” noted the chairman of the board and CEO of DPP Petr Witowski.

The explosives were distributed at 902 locations. The charges were detonated remotely without the use of long cables. They were placed on load-bearing columns, and provisional structures were also drilled. For safety reasons, a non-electric system based on micro detonation was chosen for the explosion, which consists of plastic tubes with a thin layer of explosives one meter in length.

Firefighters helped reduce dust after the explosion by spraying water. Inside the hall, ten bags of water were also placed, each containing 300 liters of water. The explosion dispersed them and created a fine aerosol.

During the explosion, tram services were halted for about 10 minutes between Poděbradská and Kolbenová streets. Car traffic on Kolbenova and Kbelska streets was also stopped, and flights at Kbely Airport were suspended. A no-fly zone was also in effect above the depot, and people were not allowed to send drones into it. For safety reasons, the immediate vicinity of the depot was closed, including sidewalks and roads, to prevent people from approaching the depot. Residents of nearby buildings were advised not to open their windows due to the dust.

Demolition and clearance work will continue until the end of this year. The construction of the new depot will begin in the summer of next year. Until its completion, trams will be placed on newly constructed storage tracks at the DPP central workshops in Hostivař. The operation of the Hloubětín depot was suspended last January.