On 21 October 2026, the 69.3-metre skip hoist tower of the former Československé armády Mine in Karviná was demolished by blasting.
The skip hoist tower of the former Československé armády (ČSA) Mine in Karviná was demolished by blasting on 21 October 2026. The 69.3-metre structure stood above shaft ČSA3, the youngest of the mine's three shafts. The blasting was prepared by the state enterprise DIAMO, which is carrying out the mine's decommissioning on site.[1]
Almost 147 kilograms of explosives in 948 boreholes were used. Because of the expected public interest, the road from Karviná to Doubrava passing the tower was closed completely, and traffic on the road from Karviná towards Orlová and Ostrava was heavily restricted.[1]
Shaft ČSA3 is 1,005 metres deep and 7.5 metres in diameter. It served to bring mined coal to the surface and to ventilate the mine. DIAMO began backfilling it in November 2025, and according to the enterprise about one hundred thousand tonnes of fill material were needed to close it.[1]
The skip tower was not included in the proposal to declare parts of the site a cultural monument, submitted in 2023. The National Heritage Institute states that the reason was its poor structural condition and a conflict with mining regulations on the decommissioning of mine workings. Protection is proposed for hoist towers no. 1 and 2 including the shaft buildings and engine houses, the administration building, the lamp room and the miners' bathhouse. The Ministry of Culture decides on protection.[1]
Chronology
- — In Karviná, the 69.3-metre skip hoist tower of the former Československé armády Mine was demolished by blasting, carried out by the state enterprise DIAMO. iDNES.cz: Ostrava
Sources
- iDNES.cz: Ostrava — 20 October 2026