The National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (MNACTEC) has completed the various tasks involved in restoring the boiler area of the former textile factory, which began in December 2021 and served to repair, condition, clean and prepare these heritage elements for display. The boiler area is now open to the public.
The restoration covered a range of different specialist jobs. The first step included removing the asbestos from the former pipelines and the original steam distributor, along with environmental certification and consolidation of the original boilers and the whole installation. The second phase involved resolving the problem of capillary damp in the area, beneath floor level.
Once the asbestos had been removed and the damp resolved, a third phase then began, with the actual restoration of the historical boilers as an object of considerable heritage value. Specialist heritage restoration companies undertook the tasks required for consolidation and recovery of the metals, cleaning, rust proofing, etc.
The plan is shortly to install the new museum presentation explaining how steam was produced and generated to run the steam machinery.
16 October 2023
