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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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 Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:44 am Post subject: Chinese apartment building collapse intact *pics* |
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Great pics below:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106050163
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The collapse of a nearly completed 13-story apartment building in Shanghai has renewed concerns about building safety in China. Officials are questioning nine people are part of their investigation into why the building toppled early Saturday.
Chinese officials had hoped they had neutralized the issue of building safety following last year's earthquake in Sichuan province, when thousands of buildings � including many schools � collapsed.
The weekend building collapse in Shanghai killed one worker, and comes amid a construction boom in Shanghai ahead of next year's World Expo, which is expected to draw some 70 million visitors.
A local government spokesman says the nine people from the company developing the Lotus Riverside apartment complex are in custody. "They're being held in one place, and helping with our inquiries. There's no proof of criminal activity, so we can't arrest them," says Chen Zhiqiang from the Minhang district propaganda bureau.
What Caused The Collapse?
He denies this is another case of shoddy construction � known in China as "tofu-dregs" construction � like the schools that crumbled in last year's earthquake in Sichuan.
"No one is calling this a tofu-dregs building. If it was a tofu-dregs construction, it would have fallen apart when it collapsed, yet in this case, it collapsed in one piece," Chen says.
The sight of a massive building on its side has fast become one of Shanghai's newest tourist attractions. Speculation is rampant over the cause of the extraordinary event, as if a giant nudged the building over with a fingertip, with some windows still intact.
A woman living nearby who identified herself as Mrs. Wang described the scene. "There was a noise. It seemed as if the ground was moving, like an earthquake," she said. "There was a cloud of smoke and the building had fallen over. All 13 stories. We had a big shock."
There are 10 other buildings in the development. The government insists they are safe, but few people believe it. .... |
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/building2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/building3.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/building5.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/building6.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/building4.jpg |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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wow
the first picture is most striking - the others sure make it look like it had a shoddy foundation. (notice how wet the ground is then) but what do i know?
13 stories? how unlucky |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:56 am Post subject: ! |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| They were digging out the parking garage, and rain made stuff give way... |
tofu-dregs construction indeed! |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 6:03 am Post subject: |
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That's almost identical to my place.  |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| TIMBER ! |
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ThingsComeAround
Joined: 07 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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At night I fear my building will be next  |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| That's amazing, but what I'd like to know is.. where did you get the pictures from? |
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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The foundation looks non-existent.
I mean generally we have foundations made of a concrete base that is anchored with steel pipes but if you look at the pictures it seems like all drudged up clumpy earth. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| A few years ago, a building in Seoul toppled over in heavy wind. They found that the foundation was just a couple of inches deep. They cement they had poured to make the sidewalk was essentially all that was holding it in place. I'm sure there are pictures of it somewhere in here. |
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Hamlet
Joined: 18 Mar 2008
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Jeonmunka
Joined: 05 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Would you purchase one of the other apartments next door knowing this? |
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Hamlet
Joined: 18 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Would you purchase one of the other apartments next door knowing this? |
Ha ha...I was thinking the same thing! Surely, though, they all have to be demolished! ...but they look so nice. ...and the discounts you could demand!! |
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Savant
Joined: 25 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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It does look like they cheapened out on the foundations or they didn't actually drive down the piles far enough into the solid clay.
The increase in lateral loading from the excavated material on one side could have been enough to cause the piles to shear beyond their designed shear strength. |
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Hamlet
Joined: 18 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:06 am Post subject: |
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It does look like they cheapened out on the foundations or they didn't actually drive down the piles far enough into the solid clay.
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One article I read said that the complex was built on an old, muddy riverbed, and that, like you say, the piles were just not driven down far enough--they were just pushed down into the soft mud. |
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