Buildings Behaving Badly; Ok, it’s been a very quiet morning. Nothing much in the way of any work or excitment. The bells come in….Your company gets a dispatch for a report of walls showing signs of cracking and movement in the building. You arrive at curb side with the balance of the one and one assignment to find that you have a thirteen story apartment building lying in its side on the ground. Now; how are you going to transmit that “on-scene size-up and status report?”…..The following are a series of exceptional photos from of all places China that depict a thirteen story apartment building that clearly behaved badly. The unoccupied apartment building toppled over due a series of design flaws and environmental factors. “Engine 21 to dispatch….can you fill the box and strike a fifth alarm…reporting a thirteen story apartment building laying on the ground……” “Oh, and by the way; you may want to notify the Fire Chief on this one….”
There are some of the known facts;
The Building was constructed on grade with no basement foundation a series of pilings
Construction was started on the north side of the building for an underground garage to be built. The excavated soil was piled on the south side of the building
Environmental conditions-Heavy Rains resulted in significant water saturation into the ground and foundation
The building began to shift due to the tremendous uneven lateral forces being applied from the soil pile, water saturation and soil movement in the foundation. This caused the concrete pilings to snap at the base
This caused the building to begin a slow tilt, followed by it toppling over in one unified piece
Thus the entire building toppled over in the southerly direction.If the adjacent Apartment buildings were closer in proximity, the likelihood of domino effect would have occurred.
The Apartment Building was built to a height of 13 stories, on grade with no basement or foundation. It was "anchored" to grade with "Hollow" concrete pilings with NO reinforcing bars
Also on CommandSafety …
- Chicago Fire Fighters Battle 3 Alarm Apartment Fire on the City’s North Side – August 27, 2011
- FDNY Brooklyn Box 4080: 17 Vandalia Avenue 12.18.1998 – December 28, 2011
- The Argument for European, North American Unification – October 23, 2011
- Buffalo Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Streets; December 27, 1983 – December 28, 2011
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