NATO STATION “IDGZ” [IT]

Exploration #110 NATO station IDGZ. We are in the middle of the Cold War. Everybody is spying. The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) base, called in code “IDGZ”, was built for this very purpose at the Maniva, Dosso dei Galli. This station, which operated from 1969 to 1995, was connected in the north, in Troposcatter, to the German station of Feldberg by jumping with the Troposcatter signal over Switzerland, while in the south it was connected in microwave with the station of Monte Giogo.

The NATO station IDGZ was a central node in the chain of maximum security military radio communications between Europe and America. The signals also included 5 encrypted telephone channels used exclusively by the military leadership and the American President, called Hot Lines. The communication chain started from Turkey, the last bulwark of NATO placed in the espionage of the transmission of the former USSR and its satellite states, and passing through Greece, Italy, Germany, Norway, Greenland and Canada finally reached the United States. Almost all transmissions were carried out in Troposcatter signal, a transmission that used the troposphere as a vehicle for radio waves and avoided physical obstacles such as the Alps. This technology required the enormous Mickey Mouse ear antennas.

The base was built with thick reinforced concrete walls, was surrounded by barbed wire and was constantly watched over by soldiers and carabinieri from an armored garret on the roof. In addition, the military personnel of the Genio Trasmissioni were stationed on a flat time for the operation and maintenance of the equipment. During the winter months the station was isolated for a few weeks and supplies were carried out by Italian Army helicopters or snowcats. Technical note for the most engineers: the station was equipped with an innovative no-break system consisting of an electric motor-fly-dynamon which was constantly running and which would allow the operation of the electrical equipment for a few seconds (maximum 20 seconds) thus allowing the ignition of the powerful diesel alternators in case of power failure from the valley.

The end of the Cold War and the obsolescence of Troposcatter transmissions led to the closure of the base and the entire communication line. The base was emptied of all equipment by the military and then abandoned. Today it is now part of the panorama of the splendid valley and its “Mickey Mouse ears” antennas are still visible miles away.

CARSID WATER TOWER [BE]

Exploration #56 Carsid water tower. This water tower is inside the large abandoned industry area in Charleroi called CARSID or cokerie de Marchienne. Here in 1838 a coke-fired blast furnace was established along the river Sambre by the newborn company Société Anonyme des Laminoirs, Forges, Fonderies et Usines de la Providence (shorten Forges de la Providence). Although coke ovens were present on site since the beginning, a first modern coke plant was established in 1908 to support the three existing blast furnaces. At the time, the Providence steelworks were amongst the largest in the Charleroi region and whole Belgium too.

The majority of the buildings in this part were demolished but the inner of the tower was worth to be visited. The climb to the top of the tower also offered a nice view on the surrounding.

This gallery is about the water tower only, but if you are curious you can find my exploration of the other areas of this huge industrial plant here: the cokerie, the power station.

HF6 [BE]

Exploration #42 . The name of this big blast furnace was HF6. It was built in 1957-59 by SA Société Métallurgique d’Espérance-Longdoz, an ancient Belgian coal mining and steelmaking company having its headquarters in Seraing, near Liège. Here, the main production sites were concentrated along the Meuse river: four blast furnaces (HF1-4), a steel plant, a coke plant and rolling mills. The construction of HF6 represented the spearhead of the company’s postwar great expansion plan, which foresaw also an oxygen steel mill as well as a fifth blast furnace (HF5, 1954), hot and cold rolling mills and a large LD-AC steel mill.

At its inauguration on April 26, 1959, the HF6 was amongst the largest and most technically advanced blast furnace in Europe, with a volume of 1680 cubic meters and a capacity of 1800-2000 t/d of pig iron, in comparison to the older blast furnaces of around 300 t/d. HF6 was also amongst the first blast furnaces entirely designed and realized by Paul Wurth engineering company, today a leading blast furnaces constructor worldwide.

In the mid 1970s heavy sector crisis and the fragmentation of facilities led the Belgian steel industry to reorganize itself. Within the Liège basin only blast furnaces HF6 and HFB were left in activity and HF6 was largely renovated and refurbished: the creuset diameter was extended (9 to 9,75 m) and the number of tuyeres increased (20 to 26) – and, as result, its capacity raised up to 3600 t/d (1993). Further improvements occurred after the company’s transformation into Arcelor (1999) led the overall capacity to the highest peak of 5500 t/d.

Nevertheless, in the first 2000s Arcelor announced its intention to progressively cease any steelmaking activity in the Liège area due to a persistent market crisis. HF6 was then turned off in 2005 but, thanks to a vast social mobilization and unions bargaining, it was not dismantled and thus kept for a possible future restart. One year later Arcelor merged with Mittal Steel, forming the largest steelmaking company worldwide ArcelorMittal. With regards to HF6, the new owner proceeded to a general reconditioning and, in March 2008, the oldest surviving blast furnace in the Liège basin was restarted. However, due to the global economic crisis and the fall of the price of steel the activity lasted for just nine months.

In 2015 the dismantling and demolition process has begun. It was wholly demolished in 2017.

GEAMANA FLOODED VILLAGE [RO]

Exploration #40. Geamana is a very unique ghost town located in Romania. Its peculiarity is being entirely submerged by of a toxic red lake created by men. The tragedy of this village, that once occupied a fertile and sunny valley, began in 1977. In that year the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided to begin the exploitation of the nearby copper deposit of Rosia Poieni, in those years the largest in Europe .

At first the residents of Geamana imagined getting some small profits from the nearby copper mine but unfortunately it was not. The copper extraction process in fact produces large quantities of toxic waste, in particular sludges containing cyanide and other metals that must be adequately treated by expensive machinery. The brilliant idea of the former dictator was therefore to store these muds, and what if not the nearby valley of Geamana could serve for this purpose? In 1980 all the lands were expropriated, a large containment dam was built at the beginning of the valley and toxic mud began to take the place of the green cultivated fields. About 400 families were promised new fertile lands but in reality they were moved to cities more than 100km far and received only a small amount of money. About 20 of the 1000 inhabitants of the valley of the past, mostly elderly, have instead decided not to move but to build new houses at an ever higher point.

As the exploitation of the mine has continued over the years, so the level of this surreal toxic lake increased. To date practically the whole village has been submerged, except for the bell tower of the old church, once the high point, and the new homes of those who decided to stay in this forgotten and forever poisoned place. The old cemetery, which the authorities had promised the former occupants of the village to move, also now lies submerged near the church. It is now only a matter of little time that the bell tower is forever submerged, putting the end to the history of Geamana.

PISCINE MOSQUE [BE]

Exploration #38 Piscine Mosque. The Piscine Mosque, or rather the Amicale Solvay swimming pool, symbolizes the spirit of a certain fringe of industrial capitalism of the first half of the twentieth century, bordering on social and paternalism. It was in 1937 that the company Solvay, whose factory “pioneer” was located in Couillet began the construction of a building for cultural and social purpose that it intended for the use of its staff. This building will be inaugurated a year later, in 1938, for the 75 years of the society. It housed a swimming pool, a theater, a casino, a restaurant, a shop and various premises that could host socio-cultural activities.

The style of the building, mixing cubism and industrial architecture, used standards very fashionable at that time. Its front part, very imposing, is a glass rotunda all in height. This was the most beautiful part of the Solvay complex. The glazing facade, monumental staircases, balconies, wrought iron railings, all architectural elements all rounded that contributed to give majesty to the rotunda which was the hall of honour of the theater located on the first floor. The entrance to the pool, meanwhile, was on one side of the building. The rotunda is what is most visible, but also the most threatened. The ceiling disintegrates little by little, victim of the absence of heating and drafts. At the time of the glory of the structure, there was lighting at night, making the whole even more beautiful.

The pool itself has a length of twenty-five meters and a width of twelve meters. The underwater depth ranges from eighty centimetres for the “shallow depth” to three meters for the “great depth”. The installation is completed by two rows of individual cabins set on either side of the basin in the direction of its length. At the bottom, there are also collective locker rooms. Initially intended for the exclusive use of the staff of the Solvay factory, the swimming pool of Amicale acquired a regional celebrity since opened to many schools in the region, as well as sports clubs, including a diving club. This is where, for fifty years, tens of thousands of children and adolescents from the Charleroi region learned to swim.

The “Solvay Basin” remained the property of Solvay until 1994, when it sold the building to the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). It quickly realized that the outdated facilities were very expensive and that important work was needed to keep them in operation. A first threat of closure arises in 1996 and the ULB then offered several municipalities in the region to invest in the recovery of the pool. After many unsuccessful negotiations, the final chopper fall in August 1998. Although the pool was decommissioned, the university used for a few more years the theater, the cafeteria and other premises, before their final abandonment around 2004.

Since 2005, the facilities of Amicale Solvay have become the property of a Muslim community that intends to eventually establish a mosque, hence the name in urbex of Piscine Mosque. Development work has even begun since then but the transformation of the building seems to have stalled to that day. But unheated and enjoying only minimal maintenance, the beautiful building, yet classified, begins to degrade slowly (history from: http://www.postindustriel.be).