It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse but the authorities say 30,000 to 40,000 buildings built without approval in the capital are at risk, and dozens have died in similar disasters in recent years.
One of the interesting things about concrete is that you can form and pour almost any shape and plan, and sometimes it will even stand there of its own volition for a period of time. And, you don’t really have to know much about concrete design or construction either, you certainly don’t need the ACI code and all that good stuff. Just go down the street and see what’s been standing for a few years without any real known design or design/code level loads, and do about the same, maybe stretching things here and there a bit if you wish, and you’ve got a building.
Depending upon the country, reporting can have some very unhealthy consequences. I was in Saigon in 1997, when a Dutch girl identified a thief from a theft in a local market to the police. The next day she was at the same market with her mother and she was stabbed to death.
@azcats, very true about your post. But this building is different from the ones that keep collapsing, it has licensed engineer and has been approved for construction. I actually posted it here to see if there is an engineer who has done something similar to increase my knowledge
If they messed up and something happens, very likely they will lose their license
And no, I don't think reporting carries any risk to me, it's just that without seeing the layouts and reinforcement detail, there is nothing really to report.
any chance those down-turned areas are just there to keep the slab soffit within the block coursing rather then intended to be actual beams, they seem to occur at the wall lines?
I am just as scared of what looks like wood temporary bracing that is older than me. The temporary shoring looks weak to me if it is wood. Bowed, out-of-plumb and in general too slender.
pretty sure the wood shoring isn't dimensional lumber, but raw timber poles. That's why they aren't looking perfect. They can take quite a beating before they are no longer functional
Assuming lateral bracing is adequate, the lick of my thumb and the feel of the wind on it tell me that shoring itself fine for gravity loading.
Though Im wondering if that slab may deflect, increase the floor height on the first shored level, then cause some poles to come loose and drop.
