Building Collapse: Not sturdy enough
An employee of Ultimate Edge Concepts was on the scene of the collapsed structure in the Meyersdal Eco Estate. He helped the Emergency Services; although he is not a qualified engineer he has years of structural experience.
ALBERTON -On Monday August 18 they heard sirens and saw emergency vehicles passing their offices in Meyersdal. They also received a message from the Alberton Community Policing Forum that the structure collapsed and that there were persons trapped under the rubble.
One of the employees offered their services, and they were asked to assist where they could. The company’s employees are trained in first aid, and they also have experience on large commercial construction projects and as a professional rigger.
The employee of Ultimate Edge Concepts also advised the scene management on what could have happened, assessed what was safe and how they could go about the rescue as safely as possible.
“This was an effort from five different emergency departments coming together to assist and rescue those trapped,” the employee explained.
To the Ultimate Edge employee it appeared that it was a large structure that was not supported properly and lacked reinforcement to stabilise the structure. On a closer inspection of the rubble he found that the concrete beams on which the Eco Slabs rested on were not reinforced entirely, only in the corners of the slabs. The weight of the structure was too heavy for the design.
After viewing the original draughts for the building and the drawings contractors were using, he could confirm that it needed a support midway. It should have been reinforced with steel mesh, better known as re-bar. The weight of the Eco Slabs was too much for the length.
Eco Slabs are used for platforms, secondary floors and it is lighter and fairly sturdy. Most of the time these slabs are covered with screet or plaster (materials that are lightweight). In the case of the Eco Estate structure, the Eco Slabs were covered with concrete. According to the employee in this case the slabs should have received a wire mesh on top, and then the concrete should have been poured.
“Eco slabs have the same integrity of a hollowed-out brick, strong and sturdy, but apply too much pressure and it crumbles,” he explained.
Alterations on the drawing plans showed that a load bearing wall had to be removed, and there was a jack hammer among the rubble that could have contributed to the collapse.
“As a health and safety official, I am bound to ask for the safety file for the contractors and quickly established that no such file existed. A safety file is standard procedure to any size project, and shows letters of good standing and the competence of the contractor and on-going training. This along with a call register, which would have determined how many people were working that day and what their daily plan was and who was in charge of safety,” he explained why it was difficult to determine how many people were trapped.
“It’s rather hard to say if it’s negligence or that it was completely a structural fault, but I certainly saw that the structure itself needed a support structure far more sound that the one I had seen,” he added.
As you state you are not a qualified engineer, so rather wait for the QUALIFIED engineers reports, before making assumptions.
As you stated you are not a qualifued engineer, so rather wait for the QUALIFIED ENGINEERS report before making assumptions.
Why are you only a safety officer when you can do an Engineers Job is what I would like to know. Do engineers not earn more money and have to study ? I just hope that when the report comes out the people who new days ago the outcome have the guts to apologise if they were wrong
Why are you only a safety officer when you can do an Engineers Job is what I would like to know. Do engineers not earn more money and have to study ? I just hope that when the report comes out the people who new days ago the outcome have the guts to apologise if they were wrong
Read properly people the guy says he is not a qualified engineer but has years of construction experience(so you can infer that he has the same expertise minus the offical paperwork which isn’t uncommon) additionally he says he’s qualified as a rigger and health and safety officer not ONLY a health and safety officer. That is why he gave his opinion because he is qualified and if emergency services thought he was reliable how can u say he was not, additionally look the company up they are construction experts and have been involved in building gosforth park. Have a nice day. :)
Well I for one am enlightened by the fact that someone who offered his services took the time out to be a good semaritan and assisted search and rescue.
Its obvious that his knowledge helped emergancy services and no one else got hurt. He said that he was a health and safety officer and should have had the construction company in bigger trouble than he did. He mentioned that he had years of experience and that he is a qualified rigger. Something an engineer has a hard time achieving to obtain as they deal with structures in practical applications as aposed to paper work.
Having years to this kind of work gives him a better understanding than the people who say he should just keep quiet but if you has an opinion but didn’t bother getting up that day to do something and help get those unfortunate victims bodies together and out of the rubble then you have no place to speak or have an opinion.
Its a good thing that he was there and helped. That cannot be taken away from him and knowing the emergancy crew, they did value his experience and accepted his credentials on site. They check on that persons credentials before accepting help.
If it was good enough for them and to trust him to advise them, then it was good enough for everyone else to accept. Like the article says, he looked at the rubble and stated his findings. He is qualified in bigger projects than private homes. Commercial projects are multi-million rand warehouses, commercial buildings and corporate buildings. It sounds to me like he knows more than the article stated.
Read properly guys, the guy says he isn’t a qualified engineer but has years of construction experience. (Its not uncommon for someone to have the expertise of an engineer minus the offical paperwork and or title) additionally the guy is a qualified rigger(do you realise the expertise needed to be qualified as one) AND a qualified health and safety offical not ONLY a health and safety offical.Also if emergency services found him more than reliable and knowledgable to assit how can u not. Additionally look the company up they are involved in large projects such as building the structures at gosforth park. I think the guy is qualified enough to share his views and opinions. Have a nice day all.
I’ve dealt with Ultimate Edge, they really are innovative, qualified and really know their stuff.
The person being bashed by biased peope who were not there that day, is a qualified rigger! He is qualified as a first aider, health and safety official and has years of experience. I know that riggers are highly intellegant people who take years to get their qualifications.
This article shows that a good man took the time out of his busy schedule to help people during an emergancy. It shows how Ultimate Edge goes out of their way to help people and show their expertise.
I know for a fact that the search and rescue teams checked his credentials, they were more than happy to listen to his advice, follow his plan of action and in doing so, everyone was not harmed. His understanding of the structures gave a clear plan to the emergancy teams and they commended him after everything was done.
I realise that you who were not there to get your hands dirty or pull out body parts have your opinion but the truth is, if you were not there, don’t give your opinion! Its not valid or even worth reading…
Further more Nadine is correct, Gosforth Park is one project Ultimate Edge was busy with, but there are 36 projects they completed and some of those buildings you know. Lanseria Airport, Grayston Square, Rand Airport new hangers and new building. They have projects ranging 22000m2 and raised structures in excess of 1800 tons and more!
If there is anyone who understands structual work and the engineering behind it, its that man!
As the law says, we have the freedom of speech and someone who was there that day gave his account of what happened! I do know that this article only summerises the actual statement made and has given very little info on his findings!
Just so that you are aware, he was with Ekhulheni town Council and their advisors giving them his findings and they all concurred! It was a meeting held between the council and Ultimate Edge to assist one another in getting to the facts!
Ultimate Edge played a vital role in assisting the rescue crews and showed professional ethics that day.
I for one commend this company and its employees and take my hat off as the rest of the world looked on the situation as pure entertainment!
I work for an engineer and I’ve seen Ultimate Edge Concepts work ethics and I have to admit that these guys know what they are doing.
They have a number of large projects and are certainly capable of assessing any situation. They are out of the box thinkers and they create stunning buildings.
A company that specialises in Corporate, commercial and private buildings/homes must have a really good building and construction background and really good accolades. I’ve seen their work, their ethics and they are professional. They are good christians and dedicate their work to God and give Him all the glory.
So attacking good people and a respectable company is not needed. They assisted where no one else would and they were pepared to put their own lives at risk to save others.
I am confident that the final reports will show that he was right. Any building that is structured correctly won’t fall and any company that does their work correctly and safely knows that hey have nothing to fear and that it will not collapse.
The facts are, people died. Either to neglagence or as the article suggests, bad engineering but I don’t see him putting the blame squarely on the engineer but opened the possibility to other factors and stated what he saw.
This is an eye witness account from someone who played a vital role in assisting search and rescue and his information was valuable to those at the accident, and I’m sure that his information was backed by evidence as I’m sure that you know its a safety officials job to record and document everything that he finds.
Alberton record is a respectable news paper and would not publish anything without their being evidence to back up his findings.
While I appreciate the help provided by these guys, I agree with Yvonne. Wait for the qualified engineers report. As a qualified home builder with 15 years experience, I find that the numerous errors in the article are inductive of someone unqualified to comment on this matter.
I am surprised that the residents of Meyersdsl Eco Estate are asking the residents of Alberton to donate to the trust fund for the workers that died on the estate (Alberton Record 27 August 2014). Non residents are not allowed to enter the estate and now we are asked to cough up for an illegal construction at the estate. Dream on…. let the snobs pay the money.