read the case study and Answer ALL the questions that follow. BUILDING COLLAPSES A REGULAR OCCURRENCE FOR CONSTRUCTION P
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:16 pm
read the case study and Answer ALL the questions thatfollow.
BUILDING COLLAPSES A REGULAR OCCURRENCE FOR CONSTRUCTIONPROJECTS
After a building collapsed in Kenya last week, killing at least33 people, experts look at some reasons why such incidents occur inAfrica. The six-storey residence in Kenya's capital Nairobi camedown in heavy rain, with more than 80 people still missing. Whileinvestigations are still underway into the cause of this collapse,we look at some common problems associated to buildingcollapses.
Adequate foundations can be costly. They can cost up to half theprice of a building, observes professor of civil engineeringAnthony Ede at Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria. He says twothings should be considered when you are building the foundations -the solidity of the soil and the heaviness of the building and itscontents. In the commercial capital of his country, Lagos, theswampy ground requires strong foundations. Far stronger than solidground. But he says developers save money that should be spent onfoundations when building on the city's swampy ground and manybuildings have collapsed in Lagos as a result. Even on solidground, foundations need to be strong enough for the load.
Inadequate foundations for a four-storey building was one ofthree reasons given by investigators for a building collapsing innorthern Rwanda in 2013 and killing six people.
Materials that just aren't strong enough to withhold the loadare used, says Hermogene Nsengimana from the African Organizationfor Standardisation, whose organisation met last month in Nairobito discuss why so many African buildings collapse. He suggeststhere is a market for counterfeit materials - going as far as tosay that sometimes scrap metal is used instead of steel. When asix-storey building in Uganda's capital Kampala collapsed in April,the director of the city authority suggested it had beenconstructed with counterfeit materials. Mr Nsengimana says thereare even cases of counterfeiters faking authentificationcertificates. But he suggests contractors also knowingly use theincorrect materials to cut costs. So they may use concrete intendedto bear the load of a one-storey building in a four-storeybuilding. Mr Ede adds that this is something regulators are notpolicing.
Even when workers are given the right materials to make theconcrete, they mix them incorrectly, says Mr Ede. This results inconcrete which is not of the sufficient strength to hold the load.He accuses developers of cutting costs by employing unskilledworkers who are cheaper than trained builders. This is one of thereasons put forward by civil engineers Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe andStephen Ekolu why a building in Uganda collapsed in 2004. Theirresearch shows that the workers misunderstood the mixing ratios ofthe concrete. It suggested that people used wheelbarrows instead ofmeasuring gauges to measure cement. The five-storey BBJ new hotelcollapsed in construction and 11 people died. "You find bricklayersand even technicians calling themselves engineers," cautions thepresident of the Nigerian Institution of Structural EngineersOreoluwa Fadayomi in Nigeria's The Punch news site. To those whowant to save money on professionals, he advises: "One should not bepenny wise and pound foolish".
Mr Ede says a building collapses when the load is beyond thestrength of the building. He gives the example of asking a baby tocarry a heavy box: "The baby will not be able to withhold thestrain." Even if the foundations and the materials are strongenough for what they were originally built for, that purpose maychange. So, Mr Ede says, if a building was designed to be a homeand is then turned into a library where boxes and boxes of booksare piled up, the building may strain under the weight. He saysanother reason why the load is often heavier than the originaldesign is because extra storeys are added. In March anupmarket apartment block which had more storeys than plannedcollapsed in Lagos, killing 34 people the Guardian reported. Thiscame two years after a church accommodation for the famous preacherTB Joshua collapsed, also, authorities said, because it had morefloors than it could hold. In that case more than 100 people losttheir lives.
At all points of construction, the strength of the buildingshould be tested, says Mr Ede. "You have to be strict," he says,about policing building. "The law says you must test. It's theenforcement of the law which is the problem," he says.
That's a big problem, he says, when at every stage ofconstruction there is someone with a strong motivation to savemoney or take money. There are many physical reasons a building cancollapse but only one driving motivation for that to happen, saysMr Ede. That's money. And for him this is the real reason buildingscollapse - corruption.
Extracted from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36205324
Question
1.2. With reference to constructionprojects explain the importance of prioritising quality managementby project stakeholders. (20)marks
BUILDING COLLAPSES A REGULAR OCCURRENCE FOR CONSTRUCTIONPROJECTS
After a building collapsed in Kenya last week, killing at least33 people, experts look at some reasons why such incidents occur inAfrica. The six-storey residence in Kenya's capital Nairobi camedown in heavy rain, with more than 80 people still missing. Whileinvestigations are still underway into the cause of this collapse,we look at some common problems associated to buildingcollapses.
Adequate foundations can be costly. They can cost up to half theprice of a building, observes professor of civil engineeringAnthony Ede at Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria. He says twothings should be considered when you are building the foundations -the solidity of the soil and the heaviness of the building and itscontents. In the commercial capital of his country, Lagos, theswampy ground requires strong foundations. Far stronger than solidground. But he says developers save money that should be spent onfoundations when building on the city's swampy ground and manybuildings have collapsed in Lagos as a result. Even on solidground, foundations need to be strong enough for the load.
Inadequate foundations for a four-storey building was one ofthree reasons given by investigators for a building collapsing innorthern Rwanda in 2013 and killing six people.
Materials that just aren't strong enough to withhold the loadare used, says Hermogene Nsengimana from the African Organizationfor Standardisation, whose organisation met last month in Nairobito discuss why so many African buildings collapse. He suggeststhere is a market for counterfeit materials - going as far as tosay that sometimes scrap metal is used instead of steel. When asix-storey building in Uganda's capital Kampala collapsed in April,the director of the city authority suggested it had beenconstructed with counterfeit materials. Mr Nsengimana says thereare even cases of counterfeiters faking authentificationcertificates. But he suggests contractors also knowingly use theincorrect materials to cut costs. So they may use concrete intendedto bear the load of a one-storey building in a four-storeybuilding. Mr Ede adds that this is something regulators are notpolicing.
Even when workers are given the right materials to make theconcrete, they mix them incorrectly, says Mr Ede. This results inconcrete which is not of the sufficient strength to hold the load.He accuses developers of cutting costs by employing unskilledworkers who are cheaper than trained builders. This is one of thereasons put forward by civil engineers Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe andStephen Ekolu why a building in Uganda collapsed in 2004. Theirresearch shows that the workers misunderstood the mixing ratios ofthe concrete. It suggested that people used wheelbarrows instead ofmeasuring gauges to measure cement. The five-storey BBJ new hotelcollapsed in construction and 11 people died. "You find bricklayersand even technicians calling themselves engineers," cautions thepresident of the Nigerian Institution of Structural EngineersOreoluwa Fadayomi in Nigeria's The Punch news site. To those whowant to save money on professionals, he advises: "One should not bepenny wise and pound foolish".
Mr Ede says a building collapses when the load is beyond thestrength of the building. He gives the example of asking a baby tocarry a heavy box: "The baby will not be able to withhold thestrain." Even if the foundations and the materials are strongenough for what they were originally built for, that purpose maychange. So, Mr Ede says, if a building was designed to be a homeand is then turned into a library where boxes and boxes of booksare piled up, the building may strain under the weight. He saysanother reason why the load is often heavier than the originaldesign is because extra storeys are added. In March anupmarket apartment block which had more storeys than plannedcollapsed in Lagos, killing 34 people the Guardian reported. Thiscame two years after a church accommodation for the famous preacherTB Joshua collapsed, also, authorities said, because it had morefloors than it could hold. In that case more than 100 people losttheir lives.
At all points of construction, the strength of the buildingshould be tested, says Mr Ede. "You have to be strict," he says,about policing building. "The law says you must test. It's theenforcement of the law which is the problem," he says.
That's a big problem, he says, when at every stage ofconstruction there is someone with a strong motivation to savemoney or take money. There are many physical reasons a building cancollapse but only one driving motivation for that to happen, saysMr Ede. That's money. And for him this is the real reason buildingscollapse - corruption.
Extracted from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36205324
Question
1.2. With reference to constructionprojects explain the importance of prioritising quality managementby project stakeholders. (20)marks