Tři věže vápenných pecí Limestone

Torza The three towers of the limestone furnaces number III, IV and V., which stand on the cadastral territory of Kročehlavy and Kladno, represent an important technical monument to industrial architecture from the period of the first republic. These shaft furnaces were built between 1927 and 1929 on the southern edge of the Vojtěšské huti according to the design by Professor Henry Šárek for the Prague Iron Society. Their overall height of more than 30 metres and unique technical solutions served to burn limestone, which was necessary for the efficient production of pig iron.

This monument and its specific technological functions are closely linked to the interwar period when Kladno experienced intense modernisation efforts in the heavy industry and steel industry. In the high furnaces of the Vojtěšské huti there was the use of Nucchi iron ore. Her meltdown required a large amount of limestone. The dissociation of limestone into calcium oxide and carbon dioxide is a strong endothermic reaction, with approximately 500 kg of coke required per tonne of limestone. Professor Jindřich Šárek proposed to reduce the consumption of coke by delivering a certain amount of burnt limestone to the pass. Cheap blast furnace gas was used to burn him in the shaft furnace. After a successful verification in a small shaft furnace and operational tests, the Prague Iron Company joined the construction of four large shaft furnaces. The project was developed by Oberschleisische-Industrie-Bau A.G. from Gleiwitz and the construction was carried out by the Prague company Pittel & Brausewitter. With the gradual expansion of the production of pig iron, another shaft furnace was added in 1940.

From the point of view of the construction, the complex consisted of massive iron concrete pads and own cylindrical furnaces. The hoppers were placed below the field wave. Their iron-concrete concrete chambers were 12 metres long and 10.6 metres wide in the crown, each having a volume of 284 cubic metres. There were tracks through the bunkers that made the limestone spill directly from the wagons. The calcareous furnaces are based on a common reinforced concrete base. The cylindrical monolithic reinforced concrete base of each kiln is measured at a height of 8,63 metres and consists of six supports connected at the top of the ring. The base is mounted by a cylindrical part and on it four cylindrical chamber cones, which gradually shrink. The total height of the furnace is 31,430 metres, the inner shaft has a diameter of six metres and the volume of the furnace was 264 cubic metres. The inside of the kiln was embossed with chamotte bricks and the outside was a burnt red brick bell. The external wall is in several places withdrawn by steel belts. The operation also included a self-contained elevator system, where the filled basket went up to the hip, and it came out here. The blast furnace gas was introduced into the circular gas channel at a height of 13 metres and the lime burning area was distributed through the vents, while the air was flowing through the openings on the outside of the furnace above the gas vents.

The whole facility was owned by the Prague Iron Company. The operation of this industry was directly linked to the operation of the Kladno smelters until 1975. The production of pig iron in Kladno was stopped and the production of burnt limestone ended. There have been major changes in the area over the next few years. The limestone kilns number I and II have been demolished. The remaining three furnaces gradually lost their technological equipment, bridges and stands until 1997.

The historical importance of the building is underlined by key years. The year 1927 brought the start of construction of four large shaft furnaces, which were completed in 1929 according to the design by Professor Henry Šárek. The fifth kiln grew in 1940, the production of limestone was quiet in 1975 and in 2008 the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic declared the remaining torso of limestone kilns number III., IV and V. by cultural monuments of the Czech Republic.

Today, these torsos are located on the southern edge of the Vojtěšské huti in close proximity to the Kladenskodic railway station. Although it lost its original technological equipment, it constitutes a unique and monumental proof of the advanced industrial architecture of the interwar period. Visiting this place offers an educational insight into the history of Czech metallurgy and engineering art, which in the past formed the economic backbone of the region.