Recent content by buka001

  1. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    This is now South Africa's worst construction accident. The previous was the Njaka Bridge collapse in the late 90's that killed 13 I think.
  2. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    The detail at the top of the column, where it connected to the slab looks suspect. As I said it appears to have lacked sufficient development depth into the slab. Typical detail at those connections will have L-shaped bars with several shear links. Or at least quite long straight bars...
  3. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    Those columns did not seem to have sufficient rebar projecting high enough for proper development into the slab. No sign of any links or shear reinforcing, but it could be just the pictures. My first comment after seeing those columns was it looked like the building slipped off those columns...
  4. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    I disagree on the QS, unless the QS specifically stated to the site team to use lower quality rebar or concrete. If the site team decided on their own accord to use lower quality materials to allow them to report better savings, that is not really a QS responsibility. I don't think a QS has to...
  5. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    Which is how it should be. I think these residential developments can dodge a lot of those requirements.
  6. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    To verify that the concrete being used is the correct concrete as required. The design will specify that the concrete needs to be a certain strength. If it isn't, it would cause structural defects.
  7. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    SANS 2001 specifies that you only take concrete samples for every 50m3 poured (3 samples for the 3 testing ages), unless otherwise specified. So they wouldn't need to do that for every truck. But, you can specify that on very small volume pours.
  8. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    I have never worked on these types of residential projects, but on the large industrial projects I have worked on, you will have a representative from the designers (consultants) who will check the works (clerk of works or resident engineer). Depending on the scale/complexity of the project they...
  9. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    M Liatel most likely subcontracted the construction works to another contractor. This will be interesting. I guess the narrative over this is another example of BEE gone wrong have quietly died.
  10. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    And even more simply, the building was under construction, so it was largely filled with air. It was just a shell at this stage. So the debris is just the slabs and walls. What I am struggling to see is any of the upper floor columns. Only bricks. Maybe they got pulverised? Its strange.
  11. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    Footage of the collapse.
  12. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    This, so much this. The appreciation of the importance of temporary works in construction leaves a lot to be desired. Often they leave it to the foreman to determine what formwork he needs for a pour, without obtaining a proper design. Even when there is a design, nobody checks if the formwork...
  13. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    The concrete on what is most likely the upper slab still looks "wet". Plus there seems to be loose, unused bricks from a pallet of bricks that were placed on the top of the slab. I think @Spizz your speculation may be right, I think they removed the propping too soon and the slabs collapsed.
  14. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    Yip. Civil Engineer here as well and that column head looks very suspicious. Punching is definitely likely, especially as you suggest they may have unpropped their slabs a lot earlier for rapid construction.
  15. B

    Building under construction collapses in George

    Yes, but private residential developments can easily flout these requirements to save costs.
See more
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X