Site preparation works and design phase for Vjesnik removal in progress

Preparation works have begun at the Vjesnik complex in order to initiate the removal of the skyscraper, State Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Tonči Glavinić confirmed on Monday, announcing that the works will develop in stages.

Excavators and members of the Croatian Armed Forces arrived at the Vjesnik complex to remove all the furniture of the Croatian Parliament stored there as soon as possible. This morning, a coordination meeting was held at the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets attended by the contractor, expert supervisors, and representatives of the City of Zagreb. The meeting focused on the removal of construction waste once the demolition process starts, as well as on traffic regulation in light of the conditions at the construction site, Glavinić said.

“Currently, inspection activities are in progress on the 15^th floor of the skyscraper, which entail sampling the concrete and reinforcement. For safety reasons, 12 supports have also been installed on that floor. I believe we will receive the test results within the next two or three days,” he said. He added that they had toured the locations together with the supervision experts, the contractor and the revisor, and that the installation of the construction site fence and the delivery of construction site containers could be expected shortly.

It has been contracted that the project can be carried out in several stages, whose number is under the discretion of the contractor.

Glavinić points out that every stage of the project must undergo revisor’s control with regard to mechanical resistance, stability of the soil and the surrounding buildings in the immediate vicinity.

He recalled that public procurement was published for the western annex, which will be removed, but that it will likely also involve several additional annexes which the contractor deems necessary to remove in order to proceed with the demolition of the skyscraper. All of this, he said, must ultimately be approved by the revisor and expert supervisors.

Glavinić emphasised that the removal method will be determined by the designer. He expects that the project for the first stage will be completed very soon, after which the removal method will be discussed.

“To discuss it, we first need the test results currently in progress on the 15^th floor, regarding the concrete and reinforcement samples,” State Secretary highlighted.

When asked how many people will work at the construction site, he replied that there are currently 10 to 15 workers on site, but that their final number will depend on subsequent stages. In addition, the contractor will assess whether they will need assistance from external companies.

In Korčula, Minister Branko Bačić also commented on the start of the preparation works. He said that he toured the complex on Saturday, when the first machines arrived at the site. Now, he pointed out, the furniture of the Croatian Parliament temporarily stored at Vjesnik is being removed. He also recalled that last week the contract was signed with Eurco.

“The contract entails that within 30 days we will be able to reopen the underpass on Slavonska Avenue, and within a total period of 90 days, Vjesnik should be removed. I said at the time that this is a challenging deadline, but the contractor itself proposed such timeframes. The removal method will be defined by the project currently under development,” Bačić said.

Failure to fulfil the contract would also result in significant financial penalties, so the Minister hopes Eurco will remove Vjesnik within the agreed timeframe.
 
Source: HINA/MPGI

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