Zoran Đajić, a geological engineer who worked on the renovation of the Novi Sad Railway Station until March 2023, claims that work was done on the canopy and that Minister Vesić’s statements are inaccurate. He further states that despite sending numerous letters requesting the removal of the facade plates to inspect the underlying structure, he received no response.
In one of the photographs included in his report, Đajić pointed out a section of concrete behind one of these plates. Part of the concrete was missing, and in its place were “crumpled cement bags to reduce the amount of concrete used.”
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Zoran Đajić worked as a consultant for the CIP Traffic Institute during the development of the renovation project for the Novi Sad Railway Station.
“I think the answers are there. I don’t see why or what we’re waiting for. First of all, what the officials are saying is not true. Work was done on the canopy. In the first phase, the ceramic tiles on the ceiling were repaired, and the canopy was merely given a facelift. In the second phase, while working on the building’s facade and the reconstruction of the stone cladding, I sent a report in March 2023 to the contractors, and everyone from the ministry down received these reports, in which I requested that the marble plates be removed from the building’s facade to check the condition of the underlying surface, repair the substrate, and install new marble plates, which was originally planned in the project,” he said in an interview with N1.
He explained that there were weights on that facade that held up the canopies.
“These were cables that descended from the roof structure to strengthen the canopy’s console. It didn’t have any columns. It stood with the console attached to the building, and the entire canopy was supported by weights attached to the top of the building, specifically at that distinctive jagged part. If those plates had been removed then, they would probably have noticed that the substrate was not good and might have noticed that these weights might have corroded,” said Đajić.
The geological engineer emphasized that he doesn’t know what the condition was there, but “the fact is that that part wasn’t done, and the contractor decided to simply repaint the plates that should have been replaced.”
“The substrate of those plates should have been repaired. It’s not true that no work was done on the canopy because the canopy was later covered with glass, and the designer in 1965, when he was working on the station, made consoles, and the front part was connected, and there were empty spaces between them, and those weights held that amount of concrete and that material,” he said.
He doesn’t know who decided to cover everything up and in what way.
“But whoever did, they should have checked the load-bearing capacity of those weights beforehand – a static analysis must be done, complete calculations must be done to see if that canopy could be further loaded or not. I was there from the official stone supervision until June 2023 when my contract expired, they didn’t hire me anymore. This work was done later, so I don’t have direct insight into who exactly did it, but it is known who the contractor was, it is known which companies were doing the work at that time, so we have official supervision, we have a design house, we have contractors, and we have former Minister Tomislav Momirović who visited the building while we were working and the current minister. The primary and main responsibility lies with the minister, and he must resign, and then down the line, everyone else,” he said.
Đajić says he contacted the media because he also feels responsible for the victims and the accident that happened.
“I constantly think about the fact that if those plates had been removed, maybe they would have seen what condition those weights were in. I feel my responsibility there, maybe I could have insisted on it further. However, of course, I wrote recommendations on what to do, I sent reports to 20 addresses, all of my reports are available, and in one of those reports, it’s February 2023, I wrote that those plates must be removed and the substrate under those plates must be fixed,” he emphasized.
In one of the photographs he published in that report, he said, you can see that behind one of those plates there is a part of the concrete, and part of the concrete is missing and instead of it “crumpled cement bags were stuffed in to put less concrete inside.”
“You can imagine what the substrate was like, in what condition that concrete was for which those weights were pressed! Maybe they gave way because they corroded in the meantime, or maybe they gave way because that concrete could no longer support all that. Of course, it will be determined, now that everything is looked at, it will be determined what gave way, the weights or the concrete,” he said.
The engineer adds that three days before that, he and his grandchildren were in that station and sitting under the canopies.
When asked if he received any response to his letters and reports, he replied – no.
“No one did, I insisted several times that those plates be removed. All other parts, facades and floors and so on, were all done according to the project and according to my reports. No one wanted to do that part. And it was painted before one visit by the president, they often came there, of course, the current prime minister also came who bears absolute responsibility for all of that, because at that time he was the mayor. Whenever they came, they would bring companies from Novi Sad, who would make up the building, paint, and of course charge,” he said.
He says it is absolutely impossible to reconstruct such a large object without one such part of it.
“That’s why I’m saying, the minister is not telling the truth,” he said.
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izvor: Nova.rs
foto: AP Photo/Interior Ministry of Serbia/HO