The commission of inquiry into the collapse of the Tongaat mall cross examined Ed Weakley yesterday.
Weakley is an independent engineer called in by the mall’s insurers to give his evidence as to what may have caused the collapse.
His report identified three main areas of concern that may have led to the fateful day a section of the mall collapsed.
According to Weakley’s report, one of the columns in the collapsed section only had one foundational pile.
“One pile foundation was inadequate, it is a cause of concern and a possible cause of the collapse,” said Weakley.
Meanwhile a beam between two pillars had a joint that was not in the prescribed construction plans.
“It is a point of weakness, the joint in the beams was not capable of sharing the required load, ” he said.
The other concern was that another column was carrying too much load.
However Weakley could not say which of these three weak points would have triggered the collapse of the section of the mall.
In June the inquiry revealed that some of the concrete tests from the Tongaat Mall were done without presiding officers present.
In April it came out that only seven Y32s (steel bars) were used, where 19 were required and some employees were not qualified for the job they held.
The mall collapsed in November last year killing two workers and injuring 29 others.
The commission continues today.
