EXPO, the National Stadium and groundwater: What are the solutions for safe facilities and the environment
Aug 7, 2025
Link to original article: https://forbes.n1info.rs/novac/expo-nacionalni-stadion-i-podzemne-vode-koja-su-resenja-za-bezbedne-objekte-i-zivotnu-sredinu/
The development of the Surčinski donji polje area, which includes, among other things, the objects of the international exhibition EXPO 2027 and the National Football Stadium, required a thorough assessment of the water management issues in this entire area, Jaroslav Černi from the Water Management Institute told Forbes Serbia.
This terrain has specific conditions (high groundwater level, alluvial composition of the terrain). There is also a need for embankment up to 3-5 meters above the existing ground level, research has shown.
From the Jaroslav Černy Institute, they state that this area is generally suitable for urbanization. But that it is mandatory to implement hydrotechnical measures (filling, drainage, sewerage) and establish a monitoring and management system.
An exhibition area and a residential complex for EXPO , a stadium, supporting infrastructure and a number of traffic roads are being built on part of Surčinski donji polje. In the future, the construction of a theme park is also planned in this area. These facilities are foreseen in the Spatial Plan of the special purpose area of the National Football Stadium.
The Government of Serbia recently adopted the fourth phase of the development of this spatial plan. With that, its coverage has expanded to more than 800 hectares of former agricultural land in the Surčinski donji polje part.
In addition to the areas for the EXPO and the stadium, the spatial plan also included the coastal belt of the left bank of the Sava. From Block 45 to Ostružnica bridge.
Construction in water source protection zones
The area covered by the spatial plan and where the entire current and future construction is being realized, is located in the sanitary protection zones of the Belgrade water source.
The plan in its parts includes all three protection zones, immediate, narrow and wider, which caused criticism from experts and the general public due to the potential endangerment of the water source and the consequences that the development of such facilities can have on it.
According to what is written in the spatial plan, the space for the EXPO and the National Stadium is located in the third – wider zone.
In that zone, the construction and use of sports facilities is allowed. With standard technical protection measures. The construction and use of facilities for the accommodation of guests is also allowed. This is predicted by the Elaborate on zones of sanitary protection of sources of underground and surface water in the city of Belgrade.
When it comes to the other two protection zones, several roads are planned in the narrower one. In this zone there is also the area of the training ground on the Sava river (part of the coast, the Sava embankment ).
Zone I, immediate protection, refers to the area of about 15 wells with horizontal drains and nine tubular wells, as can be seen in the spatial plan.
In a response to Forbes, the Jaroslav Černy Institute states that within the framework of the “General Project of Hydrotechnical Development of the Surčinsk Donji Polje” it covered the most important aspects of surface and underground water management in the area of the Surčinsk Donji Polje through 16 books (whole).
The client of this documentation is, as can be seen on the cover pages of the published reports, the Construction Directorate of Serbia and the Power China company.
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Groundwater close to the surface, proper management required
Geotechnical and hydrogeological research and analysis showed that the terrain has specific conditions (high level of underground water, alluvial composition of the terrain) and the need for embankment up to 3-5 meters above the existing level.
Groundwater is very close to the ground surface in certain periods of the year. That, as stated by the Jaroslav Černy Institute, makes the area very sensitive and potentially problematic for construction without prior hydrotechnical preparation.
“If the construction were to be carried out without prior arrangement, the buildings would be exposed to an increased risk of problems such as flooding of underground and basement rooms, reduction of foundation stability due to constant wetting, as well as serious damage to the infrastructure. For example, cracking and deterioration of roads, pavements and sewage systems due to rising water levels”.
On the other hand, the construction of buildings implies the filling of large areas (artificial raising of the terrain), in order to allow a sufficient distance of the buildings from the high level of underground water.
“It somewhat changes the existing underground water regime, which in this area is already regulated by the operation of drainage canals. It is especially important to highlight the fact that Belgrade’s source of groundwater is located in this area,” say the Institute.
The Institute indicates that with proper arrangement and application of hydrotechnical measures, the area can be safely and efficiently urbanized.
Hydrotechnical arrangement in parallel with the works on the complex
When asked what kind of hydrotechnical infrastructure has already been built in the area, Jaroslav Černy from the Institute states that in the area of the Surčinski donji polje there are embankments for flood protection of the Sava River, drainage systems with existing canals and pumping stations (Petrac, Galovica) and a number of wells on the banks of the Sava River.
Before the beginning of the construction of the EXPO complex and the stadium, preparatory work on the hydrotechnical arrangement was started. First of all, filling and leveling the terrain.
Works on hydrotechnical arrangement are also taking place in parallel during the execution of all works on the development of the complex, it is stated in the answers that the Institute submitted to the editorial office of Forbes Serbia.
As a successful example of the importance of hydrotechnical planning in the process of urbanization, they cite the example of New Belgrade.
There, thanks to the previous filling and comprehensive hydrotechnical arrangement, a stable and safe building land was created on the terrain that was previously swampy and subject to flooding.
What needs to be done in this area?
The hydrotechnical development of Surčinski donji polje should include the leveling of the terrain (filling the soil to protect against high groundwater), the construction of a drainage system for atmospheric and used water, and the construction of drainage systems for lowering the level of groundwater.
Also, it is necessary to build a public water supply network and a sewage system for the removal of used water.
The hydrotechnical development of this area also includes the construction/reconstruction of facilities for flood protection (embankments, pumping stations). As well as the construction of a new and reconstruction of the existing canal network (Petrac, Galovica canals).
In addition to this, retention capacities for the regulation of excess stormwater and a system for monitoring and managing the water regime are also needed, according to the answers of the Jaroslav Černy Institute.
Piles for stadium and underground water
In the course of this year, a study was prepared that assesses the impact on the environment that the construction of the National Football Stadium itself will have with its accompanying facilities.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection recently gave consent to that study. The study prescribed environmental protection measures. That is, the measures that must be observed in order to minimize the potential negative impacts of this project.
However, the study was made after the preparatory work, which includes the drilling of piles for the stadium, had already begun.
The building permit issued for the preparatory works states that they do not require an environmental impact assessment.
In the final version of the study, it is stated that the analyzes showed that the construction may affect the groundwater. But that the application of strict protection measures is foreseen in order to minimize the risks.
“The very fact that we are talking about the content and quality of the environmental impact assessment study, while the facility to which it relates is being built on a large scale regardless of the fact that no consent was given for it, speaks for itself. Does it make sense to consider whether a mushroom is poisonous only after you have eaten it?” Dragomir Ristanović from the Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment (RERI) told Forbes Serbia.
Lack of up-to-date data
RERI submitted a number of objections to this study while it was open for public inspection.
They pointed to the lack of up-to-date (and often no) data on the impact of earthworks and preparatory works, the impact on the water source, the impact on the future residents of the settlement that will be converted into accommodation facilities for the EXPO, the impact on flora and fauna.
At the location in question, the construction of more than 2,300 deep reinforced concrete piles, for which the impact on the environment was not previously considered, can be seen from the remarks made by RERI.
Other objectors pointed out that the study needs to be supplemented with the impact of piles on groundwater.
Ristanović states that the reaction of expert organizations and individuals, as well as a part of the interested public, contributed greatly to correcting and supplementing the study. And that this document was expanded by almost a third of its initial content.
“Nevertheless, it was done in the same manner that characterizes all the procedures carried out so far in connection with the construction of the National Stadium. Superficial, strictly bureaucratic and without the intention of disrupting any component of the project and not affecting the planned dynamics of the investor, all to the detriment of public interest and potentially security,” stated Ristanović.