Investors, design company, supervisory authorities and contractors of the Pocitelj bridge held a meeting yesterday, where they once again stated that the bridge is not at risk and explained how the cracks on it were formed.
“The Pocitelj Bridge, one of the most significant projects on Corridor 5C, has unquestionable mechanical resistance and global stability”, was the conclusion of the meeting held yesterday by representatives of the investor, the Public Enterprise Motorways (Autoceste) of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) with representatives of other entities involved in the construction of this colossal project.
The meeting was held at the initiative of FBiH Motorways in order to obtain complete information about the cracks that appeared on one segment, 4.75 m long, out of almost 200 segments on the bridge, and to agree on a plan to eliminate the resulting damage.
The conclusion is that in the next ten days, the work to eliminate these defects will be intensified.
In addition to acting the director of the investor, Denis Lasic, the meeting was also attended by the representatives of the contractor, consortium Azvirt Limited Liability Company, Sinohydro Corporation Limited and Powerchina Roadbridge Group, representatives of the subcontractor, the company Hering d.d. Siroki Brijeg and representatives of the supervisory authority of the Italian company IRD Engineering, which supervises the entire Pocitelj – Zvirovici section, and representatives of the designer company IPSA Institut d.o.o. Sarajevo.
Motorways of FBiH, as an investor, signed a construction contract with the consortium of the aforementioned companies, which, after the 980 m long Pocitelj bridge was connected by a span structure at the beginning of July, should be completed and put into traffic by the end of the year.
During the execution of works on the Pocitelj bridge, there was damage (the appearance of cracks) on the lower plate of segment 15 of the bridge between pillars S3 and S4, during the execution of works on the prestressing of the 2nd phase of field 4. In technical terms, according to the performed analyses, it is shown that minor changes in cable geometry can lead to significant increases in tensile stress in concrete.
Irregularities in the positioning of cable ducts during construction create radial deflection forces that can lead to problems or the appearance of localized cracks.
“Considering that the execution of the main works on the Pocitelj bridge is still in progress, the occurrence of such defects is not unusual considering the size and complexity of the project. The Supervising Engineer may order the contractor to remove and redo any works that are not in accordance with the Contract. In this case, the contractor will carry out and complete the works in accordance with the Contract and in accordance with the instructions of the supervising engineer, i.e. eliminate any possible defects in the works. In accordance with the Contract, the contractor is responsible for the appropriateness, stability and safety of all activities on the construction site and all construction methods. Motorways of FBiH will take over the project after the technical acceptance, with only correctly and qualitatively executed works in accordance with all the rules of the profession,” noted Lasic, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
