King Carl Gustaf joined the moving procession at twenty to eleven in the morning, in the company of Norrbotten's Governor Lotta Finstorp. The trailer with the mighty church building was then on Lastvägen, in an industrial area in the southern part of the city.
It's nice that you can move the church that means so much, says the King to Stefan Holmblad Johansson, project manager at LKAB.
Top speed
After yesterday's first stage and night's rest for all involved, the church was set in motion again at half past eight in the morning.
The move of the church from the old city center to the new one has been estimated to go at 500 meters per hour. But during the day it went faster – relatively speaking. On the afternoon's straight stretch, the procession could increase the speed to 800 meters per hour.
We will drive through an industrial area and it will get a bit tighter, so we will probably drive a bit slower today, said Stefan Holmblad Johansson just before departure.
Time to fit
The unique move has received global attention. In addition to thousands of spectators along the road, 40 Swedish and international media houses are also reporting from Kiruna. They are covering the church service held in a church tent in the new center this afternoon, in which the King is participating.
The King has also undertaken to drink the first cup in a world record attempt in church coffee that LKAB is holding. It is intended that 3,000 cups will be emptied.
Shortly thereafter, the transport is expected to arrive at the new center:
We have a time to fit with church coffee and other things, so around two o'clock, says Kjell Olovsson, project manager at the main contractor Veidekke.
"Completely magical"
One of many who follows the entire journey, from start to finish, is Ingrid Svenle from Emmislöv, north of Kristianstad.
It's completely magical to follow the move, a "once in a lifetime" project, she says.
She and her husband have driven a motorhome to Kiruna, and when the church is in place, they will soon be heading home towards Skåne.
It's a long way to drive, but we usually travel long distances on our motorhome trips.
Half a billion
The move of Kiruna church, known and praised for its architecture, is the most spectacular part of the ongoing urban transformation. The move of Kiruna's center is forced by the mining in LKAB's iron ore mine, which affects the ground in the area. The cost of the church move has not been previously disclosed, but on Tuesday, LKAB revealed the price tag:
It has cost over half a billion, so it's a lot of money, said LKAB's CEO Jan Moström in SVT's live broadcast on Tuesday and continued:
If the mine is to continue to be here, we must move Kiruna's center. Kiruna's center without the church, I cannot see it – so there are no alternatives.
Kiruna church was designed by the architect Gustaf Wickman (1858-1916), and was inaugurated in 1912. It was built on a height in the former city center and is something of a landmark for Kiruna.
The church, barely 40 meters wide and 40 meters long, is one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings and is inspired by Norwegian stave churches and Sami tents. The building weighs 672 tons. The entire moving procession, with beams, weighs 1,250 tons.
It was named in 2001 as Sweden's All-Time Best Building (built before 1950), in competition with, among other things, the Museum of Work in Norrköping and the City Hall in Stockholm. The nomination took place at the Architecture Day in Stockholm.
