Building Collapse

By: Chita de la Cruz – Heap

In 1995 South Korea suffered one of its biggest tragedies to date with the sudden collapse of a five storey department store in the capital of Seoul. In matter of seconds a large section of the building disintegrated burying 1, 500people, including customers and staff beneath the rubble. 502 people diaed as a consequence.

Two other buildings had recently collaapsed due to gas explosions together with a bridge on which one section had a design fault. Anxious to discover the cause of this latest collapse an investigation was soon underway.

A gas explosion and terrorist attack were soon ruled out, whilst compression tests conducted on the concrete used for the construction of the building indicated that the concrete was of adequate strength.

An inspection of the original plans however revealed that the vertical columns designed to support the building had a specific diameter of 60cm with 12 Gl bars enclosed within. Examination of the rubble indicated not only that the width of the columns had been reduced to 50cm. during construction, but also that only six Gl bars had been used in place of the 12 that had been specified.

Further examination also revealed that the horizontal bars running through the floor sections had been place at a depth of 12cm. instead of 6cm. that was specified, thus reducing he effective thickness of the floors.

Also came to light that half way through construction the owner had decided to add another floor in order to maximize profitability. The contractors working on the building at the time refused to implement his request since the columns had only been designed to support four flours, upon which the owner dismissed them and engaged another contactor who agreed to make these changes.

The final piece of the jig saw fell into place when it was found that the owner had also changes the position of the air conditioners located on the roof owing to complaints from neighboring premises that the units were making too much noise. Instead of using a crane to move these 6 tons units they were dragged across the roof, putting additional stress on the overloaded columns, and damaging the surface of the roof, making the collapse of the building inevitable.

Prosecutions for involuntary manslaughter followed with the owner of the building being sentenced to ten years in prison, whilst his son received a sentence of seven and a half years. Subsequent investigations into building practices within the city resulted in a further twenty three prosecutions, for corruption, and for failing to adhere to the specified building regulations. Fifteen of those prosecuted were city officials.

Such was the concern generated by these revelations that it was decided that all high rise buildings in the country should be subjected to a thorough examination. The conclusions of this investigation were stark. 1 in 5 buildings were found to be so dangerous that they needed to be torn down and totally rebuilt. Many others were shown to be lacking and in need of some alteration. Only 1 in 50 of all the buildings inspected were designated as a safe to use. This represented a figure of 2%. The other 98% all failed to attain the required criteria for structural integrity.

The two areas where corruption is most likely to proliferate is in local government and in the construction industry. This is a known fact. When constructions firms cut concerns or use inferior building materials in order to save money, and when local officials accept bribes in order to ‘look the other way’, their greed is will often be measured in human lives.

Structures which fail to meet minimum requirements are time bombs waiting to explode, and given the right conditions, be it a typhoon or an earth tremor, such buildings will eventually fall.

How many of our buildings here in Kalibo are sub-standard? Has anybody bothered to check? Does anybody really care? Or is it simply a question of whatever will happen?

Those contractors who have cut corners in order to divert money into their own pockets, together with any official who has taken money to look the other way and allow building regulations to be subverted now stands upon a chair with a noose around his neck. For should any of these buildings fail and cause injury or loss of life, they will surely become subjected of manslaughter charges, at which point the chair will be kicked from under them.

It is a well known fact that hollow blocks manufactured within our area fall well below the minimal legal requirements as I have already pointed out to the Office of the City Engineers. To my knowledge no action has yet been taken to address this issue, and no test has yet been devised to verify that hollow blocks meet the required issue, and no test has yet been devised to verify that hollow blocks meet the require standard.

Nor does there appear to be any political will to ensure that these standards are met./TE