After Port of Beirut Blast, Silos Will Have to Be Destroyed, Engineers Say

BEIRUT, LEBANON - Grain elevators damaged by the explosion that devastated the port of Beirut last year will have to be destroyed because they risk collapsing, according to a report released Monday. 

The report was drawn up by the Swiss firm Amann Engineering, which provided assistance to the Lebanese authorities after the August 4, 2020, blast that devastated the port and part of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 200 people.  Experts from Amann Engineering laser-scanned the large, gutted block of silos that rises near the site of the explosion and found it to be "an unstable and shifting structure."  "Our recommendation is to proceed with the deconstruction of this block," the report said. "It is becoming more and more evident that the concrete pillars have been heavily damaged," the experts said, adding "new silos will have to be built at another location."