Kupska: Construction Pit Being Filled, Causes of Collapse Under Investigation

In Kupska Street in Zagreb, where a single-story building and several dozen meters of pavement collapsed yesterday, a construction pit is being filled today to increase the stability of the existing condition, while the cause of the collapse is being analyzed by the most relevant experts from Croatia led by the Croatian Institute of Civil Engineering.

This was reported today by the director of "Tehnika" d.d., the contracting company, Filip Filipec at a press conference at the Croatian Electricity Company (HEP), for which "Tehnika" is building a new office building. He also emphasized that the situation at the construction site has been stabilized and that there is no danger of crane collapse as they are based on special pillars. "The stabilization of the crane is being carried out in accordance with the requirements and findings of the state inspection," he said.

The contract between HEP and Tehnika for the construction of the new office building was signed at the end of 2006. The execution project for the protection of the construction pit was designed by the company Conex, which is also the contractor for the pit protection. Supervision is carried out by the company Interkonzalting, and the project revision is conducted by the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb. The geomechanical report was prepared by the company "Prizma", but none of its representatives were present at the press conference at HEP today.

Residents of Kupska Street also gathered in front of the HEP building, wanting to attend the press conference, but they were not allowed to do so, and it was decided that only one of their representatives, Antun Kumer, would attend the conference. He was most interested in whether the residents would soon be able to access their essential belongings to better cope with the situation and when they would be able to return home since the area is still under police blockade. Filipec responded that remediation would take some time, about 10 days, so it is better for them to stay in temporary accommodation for now, suggesting that it would be good for the police to allow them to at least retrieve their personal belongings. In response to a journalist’s inquiry about compensation for the residents, Filipec stated that the issue of damages would certainly be addressed, but that the most important thing now is that the residents and their homes are safe.

"Unfortunately, we can still talk about the consequences, but not about the causes," said Mayor Milan Bandić after an emergency meeting of the Zagreb City Government, and reported that he had been to Kupska Street twice today where the pit is being filled with gravel. The head of the City Office for Health, Zvonimir Šostar, reported that 61 people from Kupska Street were accommodated in a hostel in Remetinec last night where food and hygiene supplies were provided, while residents of Plitvička Street, who were to be evacuated preventively last night, found accommodation with relatives and friends. If necessary, we can accommodate them in the City of Youth Granešina, said Bandić in response to comments that the residents were not satisfied with the accommodation.

When asked whether it was known that residents had previously complained about problems at the construction site where water appeared, Bandić said he had not been informed of any problems except that there was water at the construction site, but that, he said, is not new, as Zagreb is situated on underground waters. Commenting on the request from opposition city representatives for the president of the City Assembly to convene an extraordinary assembly session, Bandić said there was no need for that as there is no state of emergency in Zagreb. Today, the City Government held its extraordinary session, and the City Assembly will be informed about the causes of the accident and the degree of remediation at the regular session on October 11, he noted. Bandić announced that he would visit the residents of Kupska temporarily accommodated in the hostel in Remetinec tonight. (Hina)