Experts express worry over frequent building collapse in wet season

Following the partial collapse of a structure at No. 19, Church Street on Lagos Island, last Thursday, professionals in the built environment have continued to express concerns over frequent incidents of building collapse during wet season.

They noted that past records showed that many cases of building collapse occurred during the wet season.

While some linked the menace to ground water and soil mechanism – leading to titling of foundation and wet groundwork, others blamed it on the use of sub-standard materials and shoddy construction works.

Talking on soil mechanisms, member of the Nigerian Institute of Builders, Mr Akiola Bammeke, explained that there were sites where replacement materials should have been used as filling while the natural soil evacuated.

To avoid the situation where   foundations of buildings continue to slant, he suggested that geotechnical testing is necessary before commencing development.

Another expert, who identified himself simply as “Lohvang Galle Nim” on the Building Collapse Prevention Guilds (BCPG)’s Whatsapp platform, said that buildings should not be found at depths that could be easily disturbed by weathering, rains or flooding.

“So if we place our building on too shallow foundations, then we are responsible for the collapse, not the geology of lands – unless of course, there is a major climatic injury,” he said.

Another professional, Olokunola, urged the need to look into durability as a major concern in frequent building collapse.

He said: “ Most sub structural building elements – pad foundation, beam raft and other types of foundation including the short pile often erected by borehole technicians, except piles that ended in a firm terrain usually suffer degradation due to steel corrosion of structural elements in the soil.

According to him, concrete cover for underground structural elements in areas of high water table level would need to be thoroughly looked into, adding that  design engineers needed to be generous with cover specification when designing for foundation works especially in the swampy surrounding.

“This is the era of using high strength concrete to attain long term durability and save cost simultaneously because using high grade concrete will necessitate less quantity of steel in structural elements. We notice that current international codes on concrete structures have stopped the use of low grade concrete in specifications for design,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) says it is set to immediately demolish 70 defective buildings in the state.

This is in a bid to rid the state of dilapidated and distressed structures and  nip frequent  building collapse in the bud.

This was disclosed in a statement by  the General Manager of the agency, Mr Gbolahan Oki.

Oki said that several other defective buildings had been marked for removal to rid the state of defective buildings.

He noted that his team had earlier visited the distressed building site to get an on the spot assessment and asked the residents to relocate for  the sake of their safety.

Oki explained that 20 of the 70 distressed structures were discovered on Lagos Island, assuring that due process would be followed for Non-Destructive  Tests (NDTs) to be carried out on affected buildings in order to ascertain their structural integrity.

According to the general manager, the test would also determine if the buildings could be either renovated or demolished if found not safe for human habitation.

He reiterated that the government has absolute zero tolerance for building collapse; hence all building codes regulation within the state would be strictly enforced.

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