THE SOCHI EXPERIMENT: HOW OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS HAVE TURNED SOCHI INTO A DISASTER ZONE

 

The town of Sochi in the Caucasus has never seen the likes of the grandiose plans to transform it into an Olympic village, but if the geographic location could prove ruinous, the reckless construction phase has already left many citizens in Sochi in a disaster zone

In the middle of Sochi are now standing, barely, houses that are sinking to the ground.  Although within eyeshot are the imposing new constructions for the Olympic village, those buildings have been erected at the expense of the existing infrastructure and terrain.

As the Olympic village nears completion, it is swallowing up almost everything in Sochi.  What used to be fields that could be seen from the Sochi homes have now become a jungle of asphalt and concrete.  

The problem is, the ground in Sochi proper is giving way.  Homes once solidly planted on the ground are now slipping not so slowly to the valley below at the rate of 1.5 meter per year (3 feet).  

The erosion has been caused by digging of a pit that collects the construction debris.  The pit is so deep that it has disrupted the underlying aquifer, and rerouted its water, causing the ground to subside.  

A five story building on Baku Street, in the middle of Sochi, started leaning so badly that it slid down the hill.  As it went it also took with it some neighboring structures.  The five story building was abusive, and had been built without permits in the wake of the construction boom, on ground that was already compromised. 

The five story construction is not the only building that will have to be destroyed.  Many Russian who bought into the new buildings mostly with hard earned cash will now be homeless.  

What is worse, some people are still living in the derelict homes.  Some of the buildings are listing so badly, as is evidenced by the picture above, that food and other items have to be held so they won't slide off the surfaces.  Some of them have reached 4 degrees inclination, which is the same as the Tower of Pisa before its restoration.

Although Sochi was promised as a green 'city' in 2007, when the grand project for the Olympics was approved, it is anything but. And what is worse, the toxic construction waste is often ferried by train to several areas, to hide the pollution created by the gargantuan project. 

Source : Spiegel international/ 1.10.14