16 September

On 16 September 1939, Moscow witnessed one of the most extraordinary urban engineering operations of the twentieth century when Soviet engineers moved an entire historic government building, weighing around 20,000 tonnes, instead of demolishing it to make way for the widening of a major city avenue. The building was the headquarters of the Moscow Soviet, the city government of the time, and today forms part of Moscow City Hall at 13 Tverskaya Street. Dating back to the late eighteenth century, the structure had originally served as the residence of Moscow's governors general and had become an important part of the city's architectural and administrative heritage.

The challenge emerged during the large scale reconstruction of Moscow in the 1930s. Tverskaya Street, then known as Gorky Street, was being widened as part of an ambitious programme to modernise the Soviet capital. Under the new street plan, the historic government building stood approximately 13.65 metres beyond the required building line. Demolishing it would have been the simplest solution, but authorities chose instead to preserve the building and move the entire structure deeper into its plot.

The engineering challenge was enormous. The building was more than 150 years old, weighed approximately 20,000 tonnes and contained valuable government offices and archives. Before the move, engineers reinforced the structure, separated it from its existing foundations and prepared a new foundation behind its original position. A sophisticated system of steel supports, rails, electric jacks, winches and other moving equipment was installed beneath the building to carry its enormous weight.

At 9:16 in the morning on 16 September 1939, the machinery was activated and the historic building began to move. A contemporary report published by the Soviet newspaper Trud the following day recorded that 25 electric jacks initially helped set the structure in motion, after which two electric winches supplied the main pulling force. The building travelled along 18 sets of four rail tracks and completed its 13.65 metre journey in only 41 minutes. Its movement reportedly varied between approximately 16 and 22 metres per hour, an extraordinary achievement considering the size, age and weight of the structure.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the operation was that normal government work reportedly continued inside the building while it was being moved. Officials remained at their desks as the entire structure changed location beneath them. Contemporary accounts stated that work in the Moscow Soviet and the regional administration was not interrupted during the relocation. Months of careful preparation had therefore culminated in an operation that took less than three quarters of an hour to complete.

The building survived the move and remained an important part of Moscow's administrative landscape. In later years it underwent further reconstruction and was raised by two additional storeys, helping create the appearance associated with Moscow City Hall today. The 1939 relocation remains one of the most unusual examples of combining urban redevelopment with architectural preservation.

More than eight decades later, the event still carries an important lesson for modern real estate and city planning. Expanding cities frequently face conflicts between new infrastructure and historic buildings, with demolition often seen as the easiest option. Moscow's experiment demonstrated that urban development and heritage preservation do not always have to be competing choices. Instead of erasing a historic property to make room for a wider road, engineers moved a 20,000 tonne building 13.65 metres and preserved it for future generations.