A 1908 stone mansion in Baku holds a record that sounds almost impossible: the heaviest building ever moved intact, without disassembly or demolition. At roughly 18,000 tonnes, 39 Fizuli Street didn't travel far — just 10.5 m — but every gram of that stone masonry had to survive the trip without a crack.

The building stood in the way of a road-widening project. Demolishing and rebuilding it wasn't the answer engineers chose. Moving it, whole, was.

18,000 t
Building weight
10.5 m
Distance moved
5 days
23–27 April 2013
1908
Year built
Phase 1 — New structural supports
Building a second skeleton inside the first
Engineers built new structural supports directly into the walls of the building's basement — an internal reinforcement system designed to eventually carry the entire structure's weight, independent of its original 1908 foundation.
Phase 2 — Steel-and-concrete rail construction
Laying the track before the move
A set of steel-and-concrete rails was constructed beneath the new supports, forming the path the entire 18,000-tonne structure would eventually travel along — engineered and tested before any weight was transferred onto it.
Phase 3 — Foundation disconnection
The moment of transfer
The connection between the building and its original foundation was carefully demolished, shifting the full weight of the structure onto the new supports and rails beneath it — the point of no return in the entire relocation sequence.
Phase 4 — The move
10.5 metres, five days
Between 23 and 27 April 2013, the building was moved 10.5 m along its rail system to clear space for the road-widening project — a short distance relative to other famous building relocations, but at a weight that made it the heaviest structure ever moved intact.

A building's own basement walls became its transport frame — the same stone that had stood since 1908 now riding on rails built specifically to carry it.

39 Fizuli Street stands as a reference case for structural underpinning at extreme scale: rather than treating a building's weight as an obstacle to relocation, engineers built a second load path directly into the existing structure, then swapped the building's support system out from underneath it without ever taking the structure apart.

For further reading on specialized heavy transport methods, see What is Heavy Transport Engineering?

Related case studies: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse · Refinery Combination Tower · Abu Simbel

Core concepts: What is erection engineering? · What is heavy lift engineering?

The three-storey stone building at 39 Fizuli Street in Baku, with carved façade details, bay windows and balconies
The building at 39 Fizuli Street, Baku, in September 2015, two years after its relocation. Resized from the original for web display.
Photo: Interfase, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Four-panel schematic of the 39 Fizuli Street relocation: new structural supports built into the basement walls; steel-and-concrete rails constructed beneath them; the connection to the original foundation demolished so the full weight transfers onto the new supports; and the 18,000-tonne building moved 10.5 m along the rails over five days in April 2013.
39 Fizuli Street — relocating an 18,000 t mansion intact.
Diagram: EE&HL Network, 2026. Conceptual schematic — not to scale.
Tap or click the diagram to open it full size.

Sources: Guinness World Records — certified record for the heaviest building moved intact: 18,000 tonnes shifted 10.5 m between 23–27 April 2013, with structural supports built into the basement walls and steel-and-concrete rails beneath; Engineering News-Record — carries Bresser project manager Taco Bresser on the 950 steel supports, nine concrete skidding tracks with embedded stainless steel plates, and the absence of cracking or settlement; AzerNews — Bresser Eurasia's account: four days rather than five, roughly 40 working hours, over 100 people. The weight is published as 18,000 tonnes (Guinness) and 19,840–19,841 US tons (ENR) — the same figure in different units.

Frequently Asked Questions

39 Fizuli Street weighs approximately 18,000 tonnes and holds the Guinness World Record for heaviest building moved intact — meaning it was relocated as a single structure without disassembly or demolition.

Engineers first built new structural supports directly into the walls of the building's basement. A set of steel-and-concrete rails was then constructed beneath those supports. The connection between the building and its original foundation was carefully demolished, transferring the building's full weight onto the new supports and rails, allowing it to be moved along the track.

The relocation was carried out by the Dutch engineering firm Bresser working together with local specialist contractors in Baku.

The building was moved 10.5 m between 23 and 27 April 2013 to make space for a road-widening project in the Nizami neighbourhood of Baku, Azerbaijan.