THE EDITOR, Sir:
As engineers we are dismayed to hear of the second and larger collapse at the Bahía Príncipe Hotel construction site. This time, it has resulted in the death of a construction worker and injury of more than before. Most people don't know that the practice of engineering is based on lessons learned from engineering failures but, this is the case.
Based on The Gleaner front page photo (August 3, 2006) of the collapsed area, and assuming the two people beside the crane wheel in the pink and white shirts are of average height, we estimate the column to their left to be about 7.5m in height from the ground to the horizontal member. In the photographs we notice that timber was used for the props and bracing supporting the formwork. Recognising that single pieces of timber 7.5m long (except for telephone poles) are not readily available locally we can reasonably infer there was at least one joint in every prop. Considering that the collapse occurred while the concrete was being poured, the supports were clearly inadequate. Supports of this height and slenderness which are prone to buckling if not properly braced should be designed by qualified engineers for this purpose. Just as the structural design for the building was performed by qualified engineers, the temporary props and bracing which support the reinforcing steel, fluid concrete, equipment and workers should also be designed by engineers.
We disagree with Mr. Kellier's agreement with the hotel "that all structural checks will be done by the in-house engineer" (in the front page article of Friday August 4, 2006) since this would be a conflict of interest, and recommend that an independent Structural Engineer registered in Jamaica perform the inspections of temporary structures in view of two sequential failures resulting in death and injury. If the superintendent of the St. Ann's Parish Council is a registered engineer and qualified to do this, then he could be the appropriate person.
We hope that our recommendations are implemented to ensure the health and safety of the workers on this and any other site.
We are, etc.,
HOWARD CHIN & LISE WALTER
Registered Engineers
hmc14@cwjamaica.com
& golfpro1@cwjamaica.com.
