According to the District Building Supervision Inspectorate, the incident was caused by the poor technical condition of the structure and years of neglect. The Inspectorate also ordered the owner of the structure, namely Nowogrodziec Municipality, to remove the rubble and secure the remaining section of the wall.
The Nowogrodziec municipal office website states:
On 8 April 2015, at approximately 9:00 a.m., a construction disaster occurred on Strzelecka Street in Nowogrodziec, namely the collapse of a defensive wall. For decades, the wall had been exposed to the harmful effects of weather conditions and stood in the immediate vicinity of provincial road no. 357. Recently, intense weather phenomena, road-related investments and increased ground vibrations transmitted from the provincial road, which carries heavy traffic, additionally contributed to the collapse of the historic wall and sharply worsened the technical condition of the monument. Water present in the surface-soil layer, through a process of slow displacement, led to the soil inside sliding away and pushed the wall outward, ultimately causing the construction disaster.
Both the monastery and the defensive wall survived World War II without major damage [...]. In the post-war years, the buildings were consistently destroyed; the monument was saved from complete degradation when care was taken over by the Monument Conservator in Wrocław and it was entered in the register. By decision of the Presidium of the Provincial National Council in Wrocław – the Provincial Monument Conservator, dated 13 November 1956, the monastery complex together with its walls was entered into the register of monuments of Lower Silesia.
The wall is approximately 85 linear metres long. It is 4 linear metres high and 0.6 linear metres thick. It is estimated to have been built at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries as an enclosing part of the large Magdalene monastery erected in the 13th century and founded by Jadwiga Śląska. The wall was built of fieldstone bonded with mortar.
Approximately 17 linear metres of the wall collapsed spontaneously, completely blocking the provincial road lane. During the cleanup and securing work, a further 7 linear metres of the wall collapsed. The estimated cost of the immediate securing work is approximately PLN 50,000. [podkreślenia – „ii”]. The cost of rebuilding the above-mentioned section of the wall is estimated at approximately PLN 700,000.00. To eliminate a potential hazard, it should be noted that the endangered sections of the monastery walls require urgent conservation and renovation work costing PLN 1 million.
As a result of the disaster, traffic was halted on provincial road no. 357 toward Zebrzydowa and national road 94. The closure of the provincial road is causing numerous traffic problems and major difficulties for the functioning of the town, its residents, institutions and businesses.
Nowogrodziec Municipality regularly applied for funding to renovate the historic defensive and monastery walls through competitions organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Marshal’s Office of Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Between 2009 and 2015, renovation, conservation and emergency works were carried out on the monastery walls and defensive wall. A total of more than PLN 802,000 was spent, with funding obtained amounting to only PLN 145,000.00. The expenditure included costly design documentation.
This year, documentation for repairing the wall was prepared, but the work could not be completed before the disaster because of the lengthy process of agreeing on and approving the documentation. Under the applicable law—the Public Roads Act—an exemption from the requirement to obtain a permit to occupy the road lane for purposes unrelated to road management or traffic needs may be granted only when it is necessary to remove an already existing failure.
Due to the historic, social and cultural importance of the monument to Nowogrodziec Municipality and the heritage of Lower Silesia, rebuilding has become a priority objective. Nowogrodziec Mayor Robert Relich appealed for financial assistance with the rebuilding to the Lower Silesian Voivode, the Marshal of Lower Silesian Voivodeship and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
We will return to this topic.
Nowogrodziec Municipal Office/ii