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PORT SILOS

Northern part of port silos tilting at accelerated rate: Environment Ministry


Northern part of port silos tilting at accelerated rate: Environment Ministry

A fire erupts at the Beirut port near the silos. (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

BEIRUT — Caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin announced in a statement Wednesday that the northern side of the Beirut port silos is at an “increased risk” of collapse as devices installed at the scene detected changes in the rate at which the silos are tilting “from 2 millimeters per day to 2.5 millimeters per hour.”

Here’s what we know:

    • Shattered by the Aug. 4, 2020 port explosion and plagued by a fire that recently ignited and lasted for several weeks, the silos’ northern bloc is at a higher and accelerated risk of collapse compared to the southern part, which remains “stable,” according to Yassin.

    • Experts and officials have said that the repeated outbreaks of fire at the port silos are due to wheat fermentation. Following a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Yassin added in his statement Wednesday that over the course of two years, the grains inside the silos have been exposed to rainwater seeping through cracks in the silos, as well as to summer heat and high humidity levels due to the silos’ proximity to the sea, which have led the grains to rot, causing them to ferment and “ignite spontaneously.”

    • Yassin also said that it is perilous to extinguish the fire using water as this “increases moisture … which guarantees [the grains’] continuous ignition.

    • Mikati instructed the concerned agencies to closely monitor the silos and prevent any workers, members of the Civil Defense and the fire brigade from approaching them due to safety concerns. Mikati notified the army and the Disaster Management Authority to prepare in anticipation of the collapse of parts of the silos.

    • Caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh had told L’Orient Today on July 13 that he had ordered the Beirut port director to bar anyone — including rescue teams — from approaching the silos for safety reasons, adhering to regulations set by the Higher Defense Council.

    • Yassin indicated that “approximately 9000 cubic meters” of grains surrounding the silos were removed and used in industrial firewood and compost. Some cylinders of the silos still contain “3,000 tons of wheat and corn, which could not be unloaded due to the danger of working near the silos.”

    • Yassin also said that the silos structure “is built on a set of pillars consisting of about 2,200 columns,” adding that the results from “a laser scan carried out by the French-Swiss expert Emmanuel Durand” concluded that the silos northern bloc is “completely damaged by the explosion, and could no longer bear the weight of the building.”

BEIRUT — Caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin announced in a statement Wednesday that the northern side of the Beirut port silos is at an “increased risk” of collapse as devices installed at the scene detected changes in the rate at which the silos are tilting “from 2 millimeters per day to 2.5 millimeters per hour.”Here’s what we know:    • Shattered by the Aug....