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My question is not about house improvement, but still a matter of public safety. I was walking home through an unfamiliar neighbourhood earlier today and I ran into the following construction that is seemingly made by cement plaques with some sort of a white plastic net inside them. People walk left and right next to it as it's a somewhat busy street, and I was wondering if I should inform the municipality to take measures or it's just my own paranoia. I had the idea to check the street view mode on Google Maps before I took the pictures today and it appears that the whole block in that street, including this mysterious installation, was under construction in 2014, so it's ten years old, in case this is of any help:

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  • obtain a sample and have it tested ... pictures cannot be used for analysis
    – jsotola
    Commented May 20 at 20:20
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    Probably closer to fibreglass matt than asbestos. Quite sure asbestos had a bad enough name in 2014. Also looks like the city/town got taken by the builders of those things. Should last longer than ten years.
    – crip659
    Commented May 20 at 20:22
  • Can't tell what is there from those pics...but it is highly unlikely it is asbestos. Just a hunch it looks like cement boards that have a mesh screen in for strength.
    – RMDman
    Commented May 20 at 21:22
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    I’m voting to close this question because it's not home improvement.
    – JACK
    Commented May 20 at 23:56

2 Answers 2

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Yup, your paranoia. Evidently justifiable, when I look at your location according to your profile. 2014 - not going to be asbestos unless you're in, I dunno, Russia or India or China, where apparently they still use the stuff. So it wouldn't be considered a hazard there ;^) Ah, but your profile says you are in Russia - so, could well be asbestos.

Plain old boring cementboard with fiber reinforcement, not could be, in Russia, asbestos. Freeze-thaw and a bit of skateboarding (and/or sidewalk/pavement snow-removal equipment) would explain the state of it after 10 years. Not well chosen materials to be abused in the street.

The authorities won't care. Or will consider you the problem...Quote from linked article above:

“We feel the absolute support of the state,” Denis Nikitin, a spokesman for Russia’s asbestos lobby group, the Chrysotile Association, told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

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  • Thank you for your message. Fortunately, my location ain't Russia anymore, but Serbia (Belgrade, to be precise).
    – flaneur
    Commented May 21 at 8:21
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If built in 2014 it's not asbestos. it looks like possibly a some sort of fibre-cement foam composite paneling.

It's still a tripping hazard, that's something you can complain about.

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