Unravelling the George disaster: Expert explains how the cause could be determined

The news of the implosion of an apartment block under construction in George rocked the country this week, with people asking how the disaster could have happened.

While rescue and retrieval efforts continue, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has established a forensic engineering team to investigate the possible cause of the collapse.

Caxton Local Media reached out to Prof Gideon van Zijl, a distinguished professor in civil engineering at Stellenbosch University (SU), for his comment on the tragedy and similar cases.

According to Van Zijl, several investigations will take place to determine the cause of the implosion. The forensic engineering team is an independent team that will investigate on behalf of the provincial government.

“The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) will also get involved, as those who are responsible for the design and approval of designs have to be registered with ECSA as a professional engineer, according to the Engineering Profession Act 46 of 2000.”

He says because of the impact on human lives, the Department of Labour will also be involved. It will investigate compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993.

Investigating the cause of the implosion

Van Zijl says it will be crucial to capture photographic footage of the scene.

“Even though it looks like a pile of rubble to the layman’s eye, and even though it is a priority at the moment to free all of the trapped workers, there will possibly be clues to what happened.”

He says complete design plans, records of material quality test results and documentary verification of compliance to safety will be collected and analysed.

“I believe interviews will be conducted with the professional team, local authorities and construction workers to establish whether the execution of the construction corresponds with the designs, but also to establish the context of what transpired in the construction process up until just before the collapse happened.”

According to Van Zijl, tests could be performed on the materials found in the rubble.

Possible causes of such incidents

Van Zijl says, based on previous incidents, there can be several causes for implosions.

These include that the original design made insufficient provision for all phases of construction, the quality of the material did not match what was specified in the design, the quality of construction was not of a high enough standard or an accident or accidents occurred.

Frequency of buildings collapsing

According to Van Zijl, implosions of buildings similar to that in George are uncommon in South Africa.

“Obviously, there are failures, and in our history, there have been a certain number of failures during construction due to accidents on site and incorrect execution of construction.”

He mentions more recently there are examples of vehicles colliding with bridge columns, and floods causing damage to road and bridge infrastructure and homes.

Prevention measures

Van Zijl says there are several measures in place to prevent implosions. These include the accreditation of university programmes every five years by ECSA; national design and building standards issued by the SABS, which are regularly reviewed; and the review of documentary evidence of past disasters.

SU conveys its condolences

“I would like to convey my condolences on behalf of SU to the construction workers and their families who have experienced this traumatic implosion,” Van Zijl adds.

Thus far, 37 people have been retrieved from the rubble. Eight people are deceased, 16 are in critical condition, six have life-threatening injuries, and seven have minor injuries. Forty-four people are unaccounted for.