M1 Bridge Collapse - Grayston Drive

schumi

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Grayston bridge inquiry: Concerns raised days before collapse

Naledi Shange, News24

Johannesburg - Concerns were raised about the safety of the Grayston bridge a few days before its collapse, a commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.

While all of the key players involved in the planning and building of the bridge over the M1 in Johannesburg have declined to comment on who was responsible for the collapse of a temporary scaffolding structure, it was on Tuesday revealed that there had been concerns about the project before the collapse.

Speaking at a commission of inquiry probing the collapse that killed two people and left 19 injured, Siyabonga Genu, a senior development manager at the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) said concerns about a missing set of bolts were raised in a meeting a few days before the collapse.

"At the meeting, which included representatives of Form Scaff [the company that supplied the scaffolding], the issue of the missing set of bolts was discussed. However, Murray and Roberts assured those present at the meeting that the missing bolts would not affect the structural integrity of the temporary bridge," Genu said.

The structure collapsed on October 14, just days later, leaving two people dead and 19 others injured as their vehicles were crushed by the structure.

Advocate Ewan Rudolph, representing Form Scaff, said that during this meeting, their representative had pointed out that the girder beams had been misaligned but they were assured that all the safety checks had been done.

Rudolph said they were also concerned that Murray and Roberts would not be ready to receive the temporary structure which Form Scaff had already constructed on its own premises.

Rudolph said this assumption was fueled by the fact that the eastern embankment had not been excavated and leveled in preparation to receive the structures.

Just days before that, Form Scaff had also found that Murray and Roberts had deviated from the final drawing that it had earlier handed to Form Scaff.

Just like all the other key players, namely Murray and Roberts, the JDA and engineering consultancy firm Royal Haskoning DHV, Form Scaff denied responsibility for the collapse.

Form Scaff said it was not responsible for the design of the temporary structure.

The other parties are still to be questioned by the commission which is scheduled to resume on April 19.

News24
Source
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...concerns-raised-days-before-collapse-20160216
 

Arthur

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Tks for the update, schumi. Been wondering what's happening with this.

Much finger-pointing to be done, it seems.
 

TheJman

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The site appears to have now been completely cleared, and joy oh joy, we have ANOTHER red bridge structure coming up near that pedestrian one... so glad that they don't know what caused it yet, but they building another one... brilliant ;)
 

Tokolotshe

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"At the meeting, which included representatives of Form Scaff [the company that supplied the scaffolding], the issue of the missing set of bolts was discussed. However, Murray and Roberts assured those present at the meeting that the missing bolts would not affect the structural integrity of the temporary bridge," Genu said.

For Want of a Nail?

The site appears to have now been completely cleared, and joy oh joy, we have ANOTHER red bridge structure coming up near that pedestrian one... so glad that they don't know what caused it yet, but they building another one... brilliant ;)

Absolutely brilliant, yes.
 

schumi

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Grayston bridge collapse inquiry on hold

Johannesburg – The Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry has been postponed, the Department of Labour said on Wednesday.

“The sitting of the Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry expected to sit for three days from today (04 May 2016) was postponed due to ‘untold’ challenges faced by the Commission,” said Mokgadi Pela, the acting departmental spokesman.

Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry Presiding Officer, Lennie Samuel told the third sitting that every time the Commission meets it experiences “untold” challenges.

Samuel said the issues faced on Wednesday by the Commission were beyond his control.

More at:http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/grayston-bridge-collapse-inquiry-on-hold-2017397
 
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16/10/15: The Department of Labour says it expects to release its preliminary report into the M1 scaffolding collapse within seven days and has appealed to the affected families to be patient.

24/10/15: The Department of Labour says it has concluded its investigation into the M1 scaffolding collapse and is now discussing the findings with the relevant stakeholders.

28/10/15: The labour department’s inquiry into the M1 bridge collapse that killed 2 people will take at least 6 months to complete.

13/11/15: Despite an ongoing investigation into the deadly bridge collapse near the Grayston Drive off ramp in Sandton last month, the City of Joburg says it’s committed to completing the structure.

08/12/15: The labour department has set the terms of reference for its inquiry into the collapse of bridge scaffolding on the M1 highway near Grayston drive.

16/02/16: Concerns were raised about the safety of the Grayston bridge a few days before its collapse, a commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.

04/05/16: The Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry has been postponed, the Department of Labour said on Wednesday.



Lol, you couldn't paint a better picture of lies and general incompetence if you tried.
 

Ancalagon

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16/10/15: The Department of Labour says it expects to release its preliminary report into the M1 scaffolding collapse within seven days and has appealed to the affected families to be patient.

24/10/15: The Department of Labour says it has concluded its investigation into the M1 scaffolding collapse and is now discussing the findings with the relevant stakeholders.

28/10/15: The labour department’s inquiry into the M1 bridge collapse that killed 2 people will take at least 6 months to complete.

13/11/15: Despite an ongoing investigation into the deadly bridge collapse near the Grayston Drive off ramp in Sandton last month, the City of Joburg says it’s committed to completing the structure.

08/12/15: The labour department has set the terms of reference for its inquiry into the collapse of bridge scaffolding on the M1 highway near Grayston drive.

16/02/16: Concerns were raised about the safety of the Grayston bridge a few days before its collapse, a commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.

04/05/16: The Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry has been postponed, the Department of Labour said on Wednesday.



Lol, you couldn't paint a better picture of lies and general incompetence if you tried.


Wait, they will find a scapegoat who will then be "punished" by being assigned as the ambassador to a nice tropical country.
 

TheJman

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ah as expected... realised it was a tender given to zuma / gupta.. can't put blame on your chief.. bury it..
 

FrankCastle

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Just buying time until they negotiate a settlement for the victims.

Then it will be brushed under with the victims endorsement.
 

schumi

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There was no structural movement prior to M1 bridge collapse - expert

Pretoria - A professor says there was no structural movement on the M1/Greyston Drive pedestrian and cyclist bridge before it collapsed.

"On the day of the collapse, photographs and videos were taken, but they didn’t show any structural movement prior to the collapse," said Professor Johannes Mostert, head of the department of the Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Pretoria.

"A combination of still photographs and video demonstrates that the initiation of the collapse was a significant displacement of the gerdas in an actual direction, together with the separation of the eastern and western assemblies at a later stage, followed by a downward rotation of the two assemblies and the collapse."

Mostert was giving evidence at the inquiry into the structural collapse. A driver of a minibus taxi and a man in a Toyota Fortuner were killed during the collapse. Mostert told the commission that he had compiled a report from evidence he had gathered following the collapse.

The bridge over the M1 at Grayston Drive collapsed on October 14 last year.

"My mandate was to investigate and report on the features pertaining to the remnants of the collapse prior to during and after the removal from the collapse site and to consider their role in the collapse," he said.

Mostert said he relied upon photographs and observations taken from the staff at the site of the collapse for his investigation. He added that he also used material from various people that were made available to him. He said he arrived at the collapse scene around 21:00 on the day of the collapse and only left the next morning after gathering the materials he would need.

"The starting point was to gain and understand the mechanisms of the collapse by referring to the location and features of various elements of the structure before, during and after the collapse. The photographs were taken before the collapse, as well as video taken during the collapse were used to establish the location of the elements prior to and during the collapse," he said.

Mostert was asked to clear the confusion regarding what had actually collapsed on the day: whether it was a temporary structure or a permanent structure/ bridge.

He said the temporary structure was aimed at supporting the permanent structure while in the process of construction and it was that structure that had collapsed prior to the erection of the bridge.

"Temporary works is the overarching term and within it there is false work which is what we are dealing with in this particular case," he said.

The inquiry continues.

News24
Link: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...t-prior-to-m1-bridge-collapse-expert-20160707
 

P924

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Possibly, they meant "girders"? And whoever wrote this had no clue and just wrote a phonetic version?
Yeah, I guess it is supposed to say "girders in an axial direction".

Next time they should try to get a reporter that can actually speak and write English.
 

MrGray

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Yeah, I guess it is supposed to say "girders in an axial direction".

Next time they should try to get a reporter that can actually speak and write English.

LOL - "gerdas in an actual direction" = "girders in an axial direction".

What do you suppose "Temporary works is the overarching term and within it there is false work" translates to?

EDIT:
Ah - should be one word. False work and falsework are rather different things:

Wikipedia:
"Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support spanning or arched structures in order to hold the component in place until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself."
 

schumi

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P924

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LOL - "gerdas in an actual direction" = "girders in an axial direction".

What do you suppose "Temporary works is the overarching term and within it there is false work" translates to?

EDIT:
Ah - should be one word. False work and falsework are rather different things:

Wikipedia:
"Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support spanning or arched structures in order to hold the component in place until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself."
Haha, I have no idea. I am still contemplating actual vs imaginary directions.
 

The_Assimilator

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Yeah, I guess it is supposed to say "girders in an axial direction".

Next time they should try to get a reporter that can actually speak and write English.

Quality is irrelevant as long as those BEE quotas are met. This is why South Africa will become another failed state.
 
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