Danes try to move 120-year-old lighthouse from eroding coast
Posted Oct 22, 2019 05:17:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
COPENHAGEN — A 120-year-old lighthouse has been put on wheels and rails to attempt to move it some 80 metres (263 feet) away from the North Sea, which has been eroding the coastline of northwestern Denmark.
When the 23-meter (76 feet) tall Rubjerg Knude lighthouse was first lit, in 1990, it was roughly 200 metres (656 feet) from the coast; now it is only about 6 metres away.
Local mayor Arne Boelt said “many things can go wrong” when moving the defunct lighthouse, weighing about 1,000 tons and sitting atop a cliff 60 metres (200 feet) above sea level.
“But it’s worth the risk … the alternative would to dismantle the lighthouse.”
Thursday’s move is expected to last 10 hours, at a speed of eight meters (26 feet) per hour.
The Associated Press
