Soil must be decontaminated before housing project can begin

Decontamination works to excavate layers of soil has to be carried out before a 26,600 sq.m housing project on the outskirts of Luxembourg City can start.

The project, in Pulvermuhl, includes 210 housing units with one underground parking space per unit, offices in two buildings near the Alzette river, shops and green space.

It was given the go-ahead two years ago and historical buildings on the site, near rue du Fort Dumoulin and boulevard d'Avranches, are integrated into the plans.

But environmental controls at the site revealed a level of soil pollution which must be solved before works can begin.

Petrol and other solvents, thought to be linked to a mechanic workshop and a dry cleaning company which were previously located in the area, were found in the soil.

Excavation works have now begun to dig out the polluted soil and exchange it with uncontaminated ground.

One of the conditions of the project was that the two bridges linking to the site would be enlargened and reinforced.

During a consultation about the project on Tuesday evening, Luxembourg City Mayor, Lydie Polfer, said a provisional bridge will be built while the structure is being adapted to fulfill the requirements.

"The provisional bridge can only be built once everything has been cleaned," she explained. "We can't build the bridge before that. We first have to decontaminate the soil."

The project is being led by property developers, Immobel Luxembourg, which built K-Point in Kirchberg and Vertigo in Cloche d'Or.

The main aspect of the project will be residential units and around 1,600 sq m will be dedicated to office space.

(Heledd Pritchard, heledd.pritchard@wort.lu, +352 49 93 459)