Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

a) Construction of a hotel in the buffer zone of the World Heritage property, not in conformity with provisions of the Master Plan, which was part of the management plan included in the nomination file;

b) Cracks appearing on the surface of the old bridge.

Total amount provided to the property: USD 190,000.

On 31 January 2011, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, including drawings of the proposed reconstruction of the Ruža Hotel and the information on the monitoring of cracks in the bridge, as requested by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010).

a) Construction of a hotel in the buffer zone of the World Heritage property

According to the report of the State Party, the design of the hotel has been modified to take into account the decision of the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010). Modifications include the removal of a covered roof-top bar and seating area. It should be noted, that the current design still maintains a swimming pool on the roof as well as several small constructions to allow for a number of stairways to the roof both to access the pool and to serve as fire escapes, as required by law. 

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies consider that this present redesign meets the conditions set out by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session. It will, however, be necessary to monitor the implementation of the work to ensure that the final construction sticks to the agreed upon limits at the roof level. 

b) Cracks in the surface of the bridge

In compliance with Committee decisions, the State Party has undertaken a number of activities for structural monitoring of the bridge including:

· A visual survey of all areas of the bridge was carried out in accordance with the international standards;

· Investigation using 3D laser scanning technology was carried out to compare the current condition of the bridge with a previous laser scan;

· A new system of reference points was put in place for future monitoring efforts. 

Some of these activities were carried out with funding from International Assistance.

In addition, there was an attempt to reactivate the structural monitoring system that was put in place at the time of the construction of the bridge. It was found that while some of the embedded sensors were still active, others had ceased to function and it was not considered viable to reactivate or replace them. 

According to the preliminary result of the monitoring in 2010 the overall deformation of the bridge is minor. Nevertheless, baseline data has now been established for ongoing monitoring of the deformations of the bridge. The current data will continue to be analyzed and ongoing monitoring will be continued. 

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies note the progress being made by the State Party in the area of structural monitoring of the bridge and stress the need for ongoing monitoring to ensure that the cracking does not deteriorate over time. 

c) Other issues

In addition to the two areas for which the World Heritage Committee has asked specific information, the State Party also provided some additional information in regard to the implementation of the management plan and the conservation and repair work to a number of the historic buildings in the old City of Mostar. 

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies note that the two main issues for which this property has been included within the state of conservation process are being dealt with in a satisfactory manner by the State Party. At present, it is necessary only to ensure, through ongoing monitoring, that the hotel construction stays within the established recommendations of the World Heritage Committee and that the structural monitoring of the bridge be continued in an ongoing manner.