Balcony collapse (taking down underlying balconies) in Belgium

[kingnero]

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20151027_01941360

http://www.hln.be/regio/nieuws-uit-brussel/balkon-flatgebouw-stort-in-a2505212/

For those that don't speak dutch, the 10th floor balcony came down, destroying the 9th and 8th floor balconies, and loosening the 4 or 5 underlying balconies.
No injuries.

No details as of yet.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Sounds a lot like this one from earlier this year...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/16/us/california-balcony-collapse/

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[oldestguy]

In college I had a Dutch structures professor. He talked about mistakes. One comment I recall is "even if the steel is in the wrong face, that's better than none".

 

[kingnero]

Never trust a dutch professor!

 

[JAE]

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[JohnRBaker]

For those that don't speak dutch...

Are you sure that that's Dutch? Being Belgium, it's more likely Flemish (similar to Dutch but not as harsh). And no I can't speak/read Flemish, as my grandfather refused to let his daughters learn the language because, as he said, "he was now an American" (he immigrated from Belgium when he was 25 years old).

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To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[drawoh]

Brussels / Sint-Jans-Molenbeek -

In Sint-Jans-Molenbeek Tuesday the balcony of the tenth floor of an apartment building crashed. There were no injuries. Today there is an investigation into the stability of the building.

About half past four came the terrace of one of the large apartment buildings down. The damage to the building of twelve floors high.

"We got a call that concrete patio of the tenth floor had come down," says Johan Berckmans, commissioner of the police zone Brussels-West.

"The entire concrete deck structure of two adjacent flats, about twelve meters wide, thundered down there. The debris ended up on the ninth floor, which also broke the balcony. The debris fell to the eighth and then to the seventh floor. The underlying terraces did not break down. They hang loose. "

The collapse happened just after school, but miraculously there were no injuries.

Residents remain

"All the residents were evacuated, but after taking the necessary steps, everyone could again in the evening inside. On the affected floor terrace was closed. "

The municipality continues today with an architect on site to investigate the stability of the building. An investigation was launched into the cause of the collapse.

Rarely have I seen Google Translate work this well.

--
JHG

 

[drawoh]

Here is the other article.

The balcony of an apartment on the tenth floor yesterday afternoon thundered down. No one was hurt. The rest of the building located in the Jean Dubrucqlaan in Molenbeek, ran much damage. The balcony was around 15.30 hours down. The debris fell on the underlying balconies. The cause of the collapse is not yet known. Today experts will examine the stability of the other balconies and the rest of the building. Meanwhile, if everyone back home. (JAB)

--
JHG

 

[kingnero]

Are you sure that that's Dutch? Being Belgium, it's more likely Flemish (similar to Dutch but not as harsh). And no I can't speak/read Flemish, as my grandfather refused to let his daughters learn the language because, as he said, "he was now an American" (he immigrated from Belgium when he was 25 years old).

Well, we're getting into semantics now.
Dutch is the language that is spoken in The Netherlands and the upper half of Belgium (bottom half speaks French).
Flemish is more a local dialect of the Dutch language, and there are also several "varieties" of Dutch in The Netherlands as well.

Some Dutch is also spoken in Northern France, with strong Gaelic influences. But for the most part understandable for dutch-speaking people.