Monthly Archives: July 2012

I spy…

These kind of pictures should be used in the foundation design classes taken by civil engineers. Anyone with a construction background seen anything interesting in any of the pictures you’ve seen of the 3nity accident? Like this one above (click to enlarge).

Slovak on-line chatter is wondering about that slab of concrete you can see just hanging there, suspended in mid-air it seems by a steel webbing. They would have expected to see steel rods sticking out of the remaining wall, if it was reinforced steel. And if it wasn’t, investigators will probably be asking if it should have been. Any thoughts from construction people?

On or off-record by email to editor at cijjournal com.

Roof collapse in Bratislava at Trinity

The developer Vara Group is going through a real-life nightmare in Bratislava after a roof collapsed over what’s believed to have been the wellness center and garages of its residential complex Trinity. First of all, the most important thing is that no one seems to have been injured. We wouldn’t want to speculate on the impact this will have on the project itself. But you have to feel badly for the customers who’d already moved into the first of the three towers, since they were forced to leave their new homes.

The first phase  was completed at the end of last year and work was underway on the second, including the portion of the roof that collapsed. This being the age of the Internet, there’s no shortage of amateur/enthusiast pictures out there documenting not only what the situation looks like now, but from before, when construction was underway. Chat room discussions suggest that the portion where the collapse took place was the last part of the roof to have been installed, and that small trees had been planted on top of it.

The usual passing of the hot potato is surely in action now. There are already suspicions being voiced that the investor was trying to save money, accusations of poor foundation design will no doubt be made, and calls for greater supervision of construction work can’t be far off. It’s impossible to know precisely who is to blame for the accident. The fact is that despite the best work of civil engineers, the power of the Danube stretches beyond its banks, but if builders in Bucharest have to worry about earthquakes, surely solutions for a high underground water table can be found as well. Again, this is all speculation, fed by the vacuum of official information. But persuasive answers will have to be given and solutions implemented, as this kind of event will impact on even the safest of projects under perfect management.

Here’s a Slovak news link. And another. And pictures.