Shifer (Asbestos-Cement Slate)

Shifer (Russian and Ukrainian шифер) is the everyday name across the former Soviet Union for corrugated asbestos-cement roofing sheet. In English it is often called asbestos slate or asbestos-cement slate. Grey wavy shifer sheets became the standard roof of rural houses, dachas, barns and garages from the Baltic to the Pacific, and huge areas of them remain in place.

Material

Shifer is made of Portland cement reinforced with asbestos fibre. The manufacturing process, which forms thin sheets on a machine adapted from cardboard making, was patented by the Austrian Ludwig Hatschek in 1900 and sold under licence as Eternit. In the former Soviet Union the fibre used was chrysotile from domestic mines.

Typical corrugated sheets, according to a Russian trade guide, include:

• 8-wave sheets of 1,750 by 1,130 mm (69 by 44.5 in), 5-5.8 mm (about 0.2 in) thick, weighing 20-26 kg (44-57 lb).
• 7-wave sheets of 1.75 by 0.98 m (69 by 39 in), 5.8 mm thick.
• 6-wave sheets of 2 by 1.125 m (79 by 44 in), 7.5 mm (0.3 in) thick.

History

Asbestos-cement manufacture in Russia began at Bryansk in 1908. Because Russia and other Soviet republics had very large chrysotile reserves, the chrysotile-cement industry developed most intensively there. The town of Asbest in the Urals, founded in 1889 and renamed in 1928, grew around what is often described as the world's largest chrysotile mine, operated by Uralasbest. Asbestos cement was cheap, light and fire-resistant, and corrugated sheets became the standard roof for rural houses, dachas and farm buildings.

Today

• Russia: consumption of asbestos-cement slate fell by about 28% over 2020-2024 and is now mostly bought for repairs, while metal tile and bitumen products take most of the market for new pitched roofs.
• Ukraine: slate containing chrysotile is still used for house roofs, fences and farm buildings. During the war, environmental groups have warned that asbestos is among the most dangerous wastes in the rubble of damaged buildings and urged people clearing debris to wear protection and dampen dust. A draft law, No. 4142, to prohibit asbestos products passed its first reading.
• Poland: the national programme for removing asbestos products assumes about 14.5 million tonnes of asbestos-containing material, much of it roofing sheet, must be withdrawn from use by 31 December 2032. Warsaw used artificial intelligence on aerial imagery to inventory its remaining asbestos-cement roofs, about 5 ha (12 acres) in total.

Health and handling

Weathering, breaking, cutting and drilling can release asbestos fibres, which cause asbestosis and mesothelioma. Advice issued in Ukraine for clearing damaged buildings calls for protective clothing, a mask and glasses, wetting the site to limit dust, packing the waste and taking it to designated disposal sites. Asbestos-free fibre cement and corrugated bitumen sheets are now sold as alternatives; in Denmark, for example, asbestos-free fibre cement covers about 8.5% of all roofed area.

Related names

In other countries the same product is known as asbestos-cement sheet, AC sheet, fibro or by the trade name Eternit.