Planner did arbitrary calculations, ties not checked by anybody, visual check done as if with a blindfold – Forensic evaluation of Novi Sad tragedy by Faculty of Technical Sciences reveals dark side of our engineering profession

The journalists of Insajder have come into possession of the forensic evaluation done by the Faculty of Technical Sciences from Novi Sad, which is the backbone of the investigation about the causes of the collapse of the canopy, which killed 15 and jeopardized the lives of another two people. According to this text, the report confirms the earlier findings of Insajder that everybody in the chain of responsibility had to insist on either finding the archived project from 1964 or preparing a study on the then current condition of the facility. What can be concluded from the report is that the forensic evaluators managed to find the original project, that the facility had never been maintained and that the problem could have been noticed before the reconstruction itself. On almost each of the 174 pages, some mistake of everybody in the chain of responsibility is cited, says Insajder.

The forensic evaluators of the Department for Civil Engineering and Geodesy state that they have not been given all the necessary documentation, but that it is clear that analyses were done, among other things, based on the original project from 1964, which all the planners claimed could not be found. They say that the visual check of the facility before the reconstruction was not sufficient, but that, even based on that, problems could be noticed which everybody ignored.

The report also features a photograph taken only a day before the canopy collapse, that is, on October 31, and the Institute of Transportation CIP is cited as the author of the photograph. The forensic evaluators state that the problem could be seen based on this photograph, but that it is not clear whether anybody dealt with that at all. It is also said that the link between the ties and the roof was covered with water and that the water insulation had been done so that the water drained to the lowest parts of the roof, where the ties were fastened to the roof structure.

The findings of the forensic evaluation, Insajder further says, cite two key causes which led to the collapse of the canopy. The calculations done by the forensic evaluators have show that the ties which held the canopy had corroded by as much as 40%. The report says that they cannot specify when so much damage occurred, but they say that the corrosion had to be noticed during the reconstruction, and there is no mention of it in the construction records.

It is also said that the first load that was higher than planned occurred during the construction of the facility back in 1964, but that, as added, it did not jeopardize the stability of the building. The second overload occurred during the reconstruction, because the existing concrete parts and parts of other materials were not removed in line with the project. Instead, new ones were merely added, that is, the whole thing was simply masked. The new overload was caused by the closing of the empty space by the glass and aluminum structure.

It has been confirmed, as Insajder reports, that the responsible planner practically did arbitrary calculations during the preparation of the construction project. They also say that the planner, that is, CIP, subsequently did the calculation of the additional load of the canopy, calling it an internal calculation.

– What’s also problematic is that CIP submitted this document after the canopy collapsed, which is to say, after the whole process of the planning of the reconstruction – it is said, among other things, in the report by the forensic evaluators.

The first preliminary design and architectural project features the following sentence: “In the structural sense, the facility is in a good condition, and a visual examination does not show damage that could affect the stability of the facility.”

The forensic evaluators conclude that this was, in fact, not checked by anybody, but that, instead, everybody simply copied it later on, that is, confirmed it during the supervision, all this without the archival project of the building which was an original architectural solution 60 years before.

– The main mistake comes down to not knowing the geometry of the building. The planner did not have the original project available to them, but that was all the more reason for them having to measure the actual dimensions of the facility – the report also says.

The forensic evaluation report says that, in addition to the planners, the contractor was also obliged to notice all the problems. The main contractors were two Chinese companies, which hired the Serbian company Starting as a subcontractor. Starting then hired its own subcontractors, the companies BOB d.o.o. and DEKO-TIM d.o.o.

The forensic evaluators, however, state that the existing documentation does not show who did what when it comes to either the execution of the works or the supervision.

They confirm, as Insajder reports, that the station was opened based on one document – that is, internal acceptance, which is not a sufficient basis in either legal or safety terms. They conclude that the tragedy could have been prevented, Insajder says.

Fakultet tehničkih nauka Univerziteta u Novom Sadu

Više javno tužilaštvo Novi Sad

Novi Sad Rail Station

Faculty of Technical Sciences Novi Sad

Department for Civil Engineering and Geodesy

study of the condition of the Rail Station

Rail Station project

collapse of canopy in Novi Sad

canopy forensic evaluation

forensic evaluator

calculations by forensic evaluators

reconstruction of Rail Station

canopy

construction project

internal acceptance