The construction of the canopy of the railway station in Novi Sad, which collapsed on November 1 and killed 15 people, was 23.11 tons heavier than originally designed, according to the expert’s report
Namely, the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad – Department of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, by order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, conducted an expert examination of the building of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, in order to determine the cause of the collapse of the canopy.
In the opinion of the expert, it is stated, among other things, that “at the moment immediately before the break, the structure of the canopy was burdened with a load that is greater than originally designed by about 107 kg/m2, that is, by about 23.11 tons”.
The expert team of experts stated in the report that “they believe that visual indications of such a break must have been noticeable in the days preceding the demolition of the canopy”.
“Tensions, as a key structural element of ensuring the load-bearing capacity and stability of the canopy, were in a state of reduced load-bearing capacity and increased load at the time of demolition,” the Faculty states in the conclusions of the calculation analysis.
“The reduced load capacity was confirmed by the results of the laboratory tests of the IMS Institute, according to which, at the moment immediately before the collapse, about 40 percent of the wires in the tensioners were out of order. The cause of this condition is corrosion that occurred at the joint of the tensioner and the roof support. This defect could have been determined through an inspection of the structure during control inspections prescribed as part of the regular maintenance of the facility,” the conclusion states.
The increase in the load compared to the original project occurred, the report says, on several occasions.
“During the construction of the building in 1964, instead of a fall layer, a layer of unreinforced concrete was constructed from the upper side of the canopy. The embedded layer of non-reinforced concrete has a mass of about 65 kg/m2 greater than the mass of the designed fall layer. This defect did not have a decisive impact on the load-bearing capacity and stability of the structure, but it had a negative impact on reducing the reserve load-bearing capacity of the constructed structure,” claim the experts.
During the reconstruction of the building, which began in 2021, the project envisaged the removal of “all layers down to the concrete” and performing a new layer of pad and waterproofing.
“The on-site inspection determined that the layer of unreinforced concrete had not been removed, but the existing tiles on the underside of the canopy had not been removed either. In this way, the canopy load was increased by an additional 20 kg/m2.
Also, by reconstructing The installation of glass with metal frames is planned, which adds another 27 kg/m2 to the canopy. Taking all of the above into account, the canopy structure, at the moment immediately before the collapse, was loaded with a load that was higher than the originally designed one by about 107 kg/m2, or “for about 23.11 tons,” the expert report states, N1 writes.
Photo: Aleksandar Milutinović/Turistička organizacija Novog Sada
