Paper Example on Building Collapse: Foundation Troubles Revealed as a Cause

There are many reasons as to why the storey building might have collapsed. One of these reasons touches on the foundation of the building. The foundation of the building might have been too weak to support the weight of the building. Professional engineers stress the need to have a proper foundation for a building to support the weight of the building. The foundation is an essential feature in any construction. The reason for this is that once the foundation is not done properly, the entire building come tumbling down. However, some builders tend to put up weak foundations due to the high cost of putting up a standard foundation. In a properly built structure, the cost of the foundation is almost half the price of the building.

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There are a few things that need to be looked at when making the foundation for the building. These are the solidity of the soil as well as the heaviness of the building as well as its contents. In the case of this building, the soil may have been not as solid as required since it is built in a coastal town. The wetness created by the coastal waters may be a key factor in weakening the soil. As a result, the foundation may have become weaker with time due to the wet soil. To address this, it would have been important for the engineers at the time to put into consideration that the nearness of the building to the ocean could weaken the soil with time. Privy to this, a stronger foundation could have been built.

The heaviness of the building, as well as its contents, is also another factor that builders need to put into consideration (Wang et al. 2017). In the building process, one does not only need to take care of the weight of the building but also the weight of the contents of the building. In this case, the storey building has a car park meaning that cars will be packed in it. It is common knowledge that cars carry a lot of weight. As a result, when these cars were parked in the building, they might have added a lot of weight, which may have weakened the foundation.

The other reason that might have led to the collapse of the building is building materials that are weak. Materials used in the building of a storey building and to reinforce it needs to be strong enough to withhold the load (Wang et al. 2017). Besides, there is a need to look into the genuineness of the materials. There are cases of counterfeit materials being sold to contractors, and if such materials are used even if in the right manner, the building is likely to collapse since the materials are not built to the required standards.

In many cases, contractors are known to use counterfeit materials as a means of cutting costs. Counterfeit materials are usually cheaper than the genuine construction materials. For example, some contractors prefer using scrap metals as opposed to steel, which is considered more expensive. Therefore, there could have been a possibility that some counterfeit materials were used in the constriction of this building.

Some construction materials arise from the inability of the workers to mix the materials in the right proportions. Workers may have the right materials but mess in the ratios that they use to mix different materials. When the ratio of sand and cement is not done in the right proportions, the resulting concrete would be weak and would not be able to sustain the weight of the building and its contents. This happens in cases where the contractors depend on unskilled laborers since they are cheaper to hire and maintain.

In the cases of building storey buildings, the mixing of concrete serves a crucial role. When the required strength of the concrete is not achieved, then it may be a key factor for the building collapsing. Developers get the tendency to mix concrete inappropriately as a means of cutting costs. They do this in the hope that the building can still stand with the ratios used in making the concrete. However, this is not the case. Once the concrete is not strong enough, the building may collapse within no time. In some cases, workers use wheelbarrows instead of measuring gauges to measure sand, ballast, and cement. Wheelbarrows are never the bets measuring instruments as they do not give the exact measurements of a substance (Wang et al. 2017). It is also essential to note that wheelbarrows are never measurement tools but tools for transportation of various goods in the construction site. As such, there could have been the possibility of having a weaker concrete in the construction in the store building.

The other reason for the collapse of the building could have been a lack of regular maintenance and inspection. Storey buildings need to be maintained and inspected regularly (Hollis, 2006). Once a building is constructed, the materials go through wear and tear and need to be checked regularly. Those that have weakened need to be replaced and those that cannot be replaced need to be reinforced. Buildings in towns are prone to weakening at a higher rate than those in the rural areas. This is partly due to the number of activities which are carried out in the towns.

Every country has its policies and regulations which on how maintenance and inspection of buildings should be conducted. For example, many of the jurisdictions require owners of buildings that are more than 30 years old to be inspected by registered structural engineers and who should, in turn, recommend the necessary repair works. Besides, inspections need to be done every seven years to ensure that any sign of weakness in the building is noticed and addressed accordingly (Stefanova 2011). Inspecting a building ensures that pertinent areas such as drainage, fire safety elements, and external walls are checked and any arising issues addressed accordingly.

A building may also collapse as a result of carrying a load that is heavier than had been anticipated. When a building carries a load that is beyond its strength, it may collapse. This scenario can be likened to that of a baby carrying a load that too heavy for him or her. What will happen is that the baby will end up straining a lot, and finally, their knees will give in. In the case of the storey building, the weight exerted by the cars being parked in the building coupled with the weight of the building might have led to the collapse of the building. Even in cases where the foundations of the buildings are strong enough and reinforcement done properly, if the weight is too heavy for the building, it may still collapse (Hollis, 2006). There could have been vehicles that were being parked in the topmost storeys which could have weakened those storeys leading to their collapse.

Planning of Investigation

In the case of the collapse of any building, an investigation must be done to find out the causes of the collapse. The purpose of an investigation is to determine why and how the building collapsed, determine the various procedures and practices which were used when the building was designed, constructed and maintained. Besides, an inspection is used to identify the areas of the building which require to be revised or renovated.

The investigation process will seek to identify the possible causes of the collapse based on an in-depth inquiry process. The investigation process will also look at the history of the building to determine possible weaknesses that might have been linked to its collapse. The investigation process will seek to analyze the evidence present after the collapse of the building. The results obtained from that information will lead to the decisions that will be made regarding the remaining part of the building (Hollis, 2006). For example, if the reason for the collapse is too much weight put on the building as a result of its contents, there would be a recommendation to reduce the number of cars parked in the building to avoid further collapse.

The investigation plan will perform static analysis, dynamic analysis, verification, and determination. The static analysis will involve a surface examination of the other parts of the building to determine whether they are at the risk of collapsing. Besides, it will involve a thorough examination of the drawings of the building, which were prepared during the original construction of the building. To do this, the building plan will be necessary. There will also be the need to examine aerial photos of the building after its completion to determine whether some stories had been added afterward.

The dynamic analysis will involve the deconstruction of the remains of the building in a thorough manner to gather information on the materials used in the construction process and their performance. It will also be necessary to test the materials which were used in the construction of the building to determine if they were to the required standards. It will also be necessary to calculate the expected performance of the materials used in constructing the building and compare them to the load paths as well as the load bearing capacity with the loads anticipated.

In the verification process, it will be essential to test the stability and reliability of the construction, which was there before the collapse. It would also be necessary to conduct pathology. Generally, pathology involves researching into studies that delve into such failures. The intention of this is to get background information into the causes of such failures.

Outline of the Final Report

The final report will consist of several items with each of the factors dealing with specific details. The final report will consist of the following:

Introduction

This part will seek to introduce the issue of houses collapsing. It will tend to connect this information with the houses built in coastal towns as well as the purpose for which the houses are built. This part will also highlight the challenges faced by stakeholders regarding collapsing of houses. The introduction part will also make a list of some of the known multistorey buildings which have collapsed in the past and tend to identify the cause for their collapse.

Aims and Objectives of the Investigation

This part of the research will lay down the purpose of the project. One of the major aims of the project will be to evaluate the reasons for collapse of the building. It will also highlight the individual investigations that the forensic engineer carried out.

Related Cases

This section of the report will rely on previous literature about the collapse of houses. It is true that there are other houses that have collapsed in the past. While some houses have collapsed due to natural occurrences such as floods, earthquakes, and tornados but there are those that have collapsed due to issues of carelessness, use of substandard materials, deficient structural drawings, and alteration of approved drawings (Hollis, 2006). This part of the project will seek to focus on the human-made causes of collapsing of houses. Previous literature will highlight the causes as well as the solutions to such problems.

Methods Used in the Investigation

This section will look into the methods that were used to collect the information. In this section, there will be an attempt to justify why one method was better than another. In this section, the report will state each of the investigations carried out as well as the purpose for carrying out each of the investigations. Each of these investigations is linked to the initial hypothesis developed by the forensic engineer.

Discussion

The discussion will involve the findings from the investigation. These will include the factors which were found to have caused the collapse. Depending on what the investigation will identify, some of these would be defective design, defective construction, use of substandard materials, lack of proper maintenance a...