Maribor stories: Lift to live

The Water Tower (Vodni stolp) is part of Maribor's medieval defence system and it has stood in the same spot since 1555. Well, almost in the same spot.

In the mid-1960s, the construction of the Zlatoličje hydroelectric power plant began. A dam was constructed on the Drava river downstream from the city and the section before the dam became an accumulation lake. The river flow slowed significantly, and the water level rose by two and a half meters. As a result, several old houses had to be demolished; the famous »Benetke« (Venice) had to be pulled down too, and the Water Tower was also in danger.

Fortunately, the civil engineer Jože Požauko thought of a solution: he proposed to lift the entire tower. He designed a plan and supervised the elevation of this almost 1,500 ton heavy building. First, both inside the tower and around its exterior walls they dug a meter and half deep (the foundations go even deeper) and at this level the tower was cut horizontally and reinforced. By means of 14 hydraulic lifters it was carefully raised, a few millimetres at a time, by 2.6 metres in total. The raised building was supported by oak runners inserted at each stage, and the gaps were filled with the precast concrete blocks, which significantly sped up the entire process. The elevation was completed in a few months and was followed by cementing the inserted sections of the wall, the final reinforcement of the river bank and landscaping.