August 11, 2017 — A demolition-threatened historic chimney in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku will now be the center point of a multi-million-pound new shopping complex, thanks to the innovation of Cintec International.

Baku chimney
Built in the 1900s, this chimney will be the focal point of a new shopping complex in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Cintec has been commissioned to carry out complex structural preservation work on the chimney later this year in a £1 million contract.

Built in the 1900s, the feature is the focal point of a regeneration project to establish Baku as an up-and-coming center of commerce and technology.

Original designs for the development, which will be called The Twin Towers of Port Baku, planned to have the chimney pulled down to make way for the modern shopping complex. However, when the president of Azerbaijan saw the plans, he requested that the historic chimney be restored instead and become a central feature of the development.

The result is a design representative of the futuristic vision for Azerbaijan while retaining important elements of its industrial history.

Cintec, which has been instrumental in the restoration of many of the world’s most recognizable and iconic historic structures, was an obvious choice for the job and has already begun work on helping to preserve the chimney.

work on chimney
Cintec International is working to preserve the chimney with an innovative anchor.

The company will be using its unique, patented anchor to secure the chimney by drilling into the structure from the top and feeding 24 m of anchors into the walls of the chimney to secure it for generations to come. The chimney is one of the most delicate structures that Cintec has ever worked with and has required the company to design thinner connecting anchors especially for the project.

The circular structure of the building also means that Cintec will have to use laser keyhole technology to achieve the precision necessary to successfully position the anchors. The work is expected to take 12 weeks to complete, and the total project value is estimated at around £1 million.

The chimney is just one of Cintec’s ongoing structural preservation projects. The company has worked in Egypt restoring its historic buildings for 18 years and has undertaken restoration work on mosques, temples and both the Red and Step Pyramids. Cintec anchors have also been used to restore other historically significant buildings across the globe, including Windsor Castle, the parliament building in Canada and even the White House.

For more information, e-mail solutions@cintec.com or visit www.cintec.com.