The mining town of Kiruna is Sweden's northernmost city, located within the Arctic Circle. It was founded in the 1890s and Kiruna Church, one of the country's largest wooden structures, was erected in the 1910s.

Image: Heinz-Josef Lücking, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Image: Xauxa Håkan Svensson, CC BY-SA 3.0

Image: TorbjørnS, CC BY 4.0

As the underground mining operations have expanded over the years, the ground has become unstable, and the church needed to be moved. This task fell to Dutch engineering firm Mammoet, which specializes in heavy transport solutions.

The planning took over 1,000 hours, but the actual 5km (3.1 mile) move was executed in just two days. The 786-ton structure was jacked up as massive steel beams were placed beneath the structure; these were then rested on two of the company's Self-Propelled Modular Transporters, which were each configured with 28 axles.

Two engineers sat inside the church, to listen for cracks, as it rolled towards its new site.

Two days after they'd set off, the church was successfully lowered onto its new concrete foundation, now a safe distance away from the mining tunnels.

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Next Mammoet has to move the church's belfry, a separate structure. But that should be a cinch; it only weighs 99 tons.