Contract for strengthening platform beams at Prokop officially awarded – Project value around 22 million dinars

The Serbian Railways Infrastructure company has officially awarded the contract for strengthening the beams at the Belgrade Center (Prokop) rail station. This project, worth around 22 million dinars excluding VAT, was awarded to AM Constructions and Milmar Gradnja. This was also the only bid submitted within the framework of this tender.

The tender documentation indicated that cracks had been observed in the lower zone of the platform beams, and tests conducted by the Belgrade-based IMS Institute had showed that the amount of reinforcement in them was less than that envisaged by the design. Subsequent analyses showed that, in order to ensure the durability of the structure, it was necessary to strengthen the existing beams. The solution involves installing new columns under the beams in order to reduce static impact. Pile foundations will be built under the pillars, since the planned works site features a collector with a diameter of 1.6 meters, to which no additional load may be transferred.

The so-called mega piles with a diameter of 219 millimeters and a length of about 10 meters are planned, which will be pressed into the ground using hydraulic presses until the planned forces are achieved. Four piles will be built at each location, above which there will be a reinforced concrete footing and a steel column supporting the platform beam, the documents state. The steel columns will be made of pipes with a diameter of 406 millimeters and filled with high-strength concrete. Their role is to take over part of the load and ensure the stability of the structure, without disrupting the functionality of the station during the works.

By the way, at the end of May last year, the Serbian Railway Infrastructure company received location requirements for the reconstruction of the platform beams at the Belgrade Center rail station.

Let us also remind that, at the end of January, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure issued a certificate to the Railway Inspectorate on the application for works on the reconstruction of the platform beams of the rail station below elevation 105.50. The document published at that time was incomplete, given that it contained only a header with the case number and registry number, while the operative part of the decision was omitted.

The Railway Inspectorate issued a statement this summer saying that the Belgrade Center rail station was safe for the use and functioning of rail traffic, and that the planned works on strengthening the platform beams in Prokop related to beams that were built in 1997.

– That part of the station is not included in the construction of the new station building in Prokop, which opened in 2023. The planned works include the rehabilitation of two pillars below elevation 105.

A month later, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure rejected the Railway Inspectorate’s request for approval to carry out works on the reconstruction of the platform beams at the Belgrade Center rail station.

Two weeks after the Serbian Railways Infrastructure company announced that the reinforcement of the beams at Prokop would begin, a tender for this job was announced, only to be declared unsuccessful in September. Let us remind that the previous procedure was suspended because the only bid received was deemed unacceptable, and this was also the bid of the companies that won the job this time. Namely, the Serbian Railways Infrastructure company assessed that the bid was unacceptable because Milmar Gradnja, which according to the bid would perform 99% of the construction work, did not have the I142G1 license for the execution of building structures for facilities on public rail infrastructures with connections (bridges).

The now-completed tender was announced in November.

Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije Beograd

AM constructions doo Ruma

Milmar gradnja d.o.o. Beograd

Serbian Railways Infrastructure

AM Constructions

Milmar gradnja

Prokop rail station Belgrade

strengthening platform beams at Prokop

Prokop