Friday, June 05, 2009

1T : Roof collapse...everybody seems to know the problem but no action...why?

1st world facilities, 3rd world maintenance, 4th world action. Do we qualify?

1. Remember about the roof collapse at Stadium Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin? That happened barely a week after the demolition works on Jaya supermarket went awry.
2. As usual, MSM reported on who says what. Almost everybody spoke and gave their version of what happened.
3. One regular jogger who happens to be an Engineer said that he had raised his concerns to the relevant parties because he saw that the space frame is warped.
4. Terengganu MB said that they knew about the defects before SUKMA 12 games which was held in May 2008, one year ago.
5. Latest , the architect responded from Mecca to say that everybody could see the(space) frame was deformed but in the same breath said that the details of the space frame design was never fully supplied to his company and he has voiced out hos concerns to JKR Terengganu.
6. Now that we have the comments from the public, the executive, the consultants where is the response from the Contractor? After all, he is a qualified engineer so he should come out to give his version of the story...
7. Nowadays, the public is trigger (no, it is not trigger but keyboard) happy o post their comments and blame BN for the mishap. Maybe it is right, maybe not. Let us look on the reality side and try to understand what happen and what should have happen...
8. Granted that the project is carried out under BN and used since May 2008. My question to Mr Jogging Engineer are :-

  • Who do you write your letter to? Do you cc the letter to other relevant authorities? Is it hand delivered, pos laju or just slippingthe letter under the authority's office?
  • Are you sure the letter is read? Did they (authorities) respond to your letter? Did you do follow up on your letter?
  • If you did not receive any respond, did you raise the issue with your elected rep and request them to highlight it in the state assembly sitting?
  • Mos probably, the jogging engineer did not do that and raise the issue as an afterthought, after the roof collapsed...
9. Mr MBs (since there are 3 active politicians who are past and present MBs, namely Ahmad Said, Idris Jusoh and Hadi Awang), what now since :-
  • Ahmad Said claimed that the defects had been detected since before Sukma 12, what is done?
  • If JKR has been informed to instruct the Contractor to rectify the defects, is the information in offficial letter or by verbal?
  • If it is by written instruction, what was JKR's action?
  • If JKR had not acted, why?
  • Why after 1 year, the defect has not been rectified?
  • Why didn't JKR issue letter to stop ongoing activity in the stadium?
  • Did JKR take any remedial and precautionary actions to safeguard public safety?
10. Mr Architect claimed that the full design of the space frame were not submitted to him, the questions :-

  • If the design of the space frame was not submitted, why did the Architect did not issue any Architect Instruction to request for one?
  • If the Contractor did not comply to Architect's requirement, why didn't the Architect stop/prevent the Contractor from installing the space frame and the roofing?
  • If Architect has stop the Contractor from installing the space frame, who overides the Architect's decision?
  • What remedial measures did the Architect taken to rectify the defects?
  • How mny times were the Contractor warned/reminded to rectify the defects?
  • Who is supervising the works? Who is the project manager of the works? Did the project manager list the roofing in the defcts list? What is the ime frame to repair the defects?
  • Is the roof insured? Is the mishap covered by insurance? If not, who will bear the cost to rectift the damage?
  • Who will pay for opportunity cost? What is the opportunity cost?
11. Generally, I like to know the following :-

  • Did any of the state assembly (BN or PR) raised the safety issue in the state assembly? If yes, when? If not, why?
  • This is collective responsibility, why hasn't teh MB set up a task force to review the damage?
  • Why does JKR needs 1 month to prepare the report when individuals like mampat (blog) can circle the defective area and cause of collapse?
  • Will the report be made public?
  • Why is the Contractor keeping silent? Why didn't MSM interview him? Who is he?
  • Who is the space frame supplier? What is his commitment? What is his initial comment?
  • Who are the engineers? why didn't they come forward to defend their design?
  • When the stadium workers stumble on loose bolts and nuts, why didn't they highlight it to the maintenance department? What did the maintenance do? Why no pro-active action from the maintenance department?
  • Are maintenance personnel qualified? Where is their maintenance record?
  • If the defects had been noticed since SUKMA 12, why didn't JKR monitor the conditrion? If they monitor the conditions, where are the records?
12. The list can go on but for the time being, suffice to say and agree that "we have 1st world facilities, 3rd world maintenance, 4th world action"

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are.../div>

23 comments:

Fi-sha said...

Dear Mr Dnightcaller

There are all well qualified as professionals but they are not qualified as right-thinking human beings.

If they are in the sales line, they are the lousiest salesmen - no after sale service - they simply disappear with the money.

Hmm, too many opinions no actions huh? Sounds so Malaysia Boleh 1 sir. I say we go and sue all the relevant parties including JKR and MBs for negligence, hows that? Even better if DYMM Sultan himself starts the ball rolling, since the ill fated stadium is named after him.

Thank God precious lives are spared in this shameful incidence, if not how would those ignorance, lazy, idiotic professionals repay for the lives taken away from their loved ones?

To Ministry of Sports, dont even think to lobby Malaysia for organising any kind of regional or global sports events till you certified the whole sports building in this country is safe and please put up a sign board saying you've checked and confirmed that everythings ok and not forgetting the contact details of people we could write to if we have some feedback.

Cheerio!

Anonymous said...

Hei Guys. It doesn't matter now what the MB says, what the engineer says or architect says. But it's time for the police to look for the contractors and charge them in court. These hoo ha on MSM is going to be over soon and the culprits are going to get away with it.
So many tragedies happened and the police have failed to carry out investigations and charge the contractors for the 'hal past six' job carried out by the contractors. Is it because they are well connected. What if there were people under the roofs.
There seems to be no accountability in the country.

nightcaller said...

Fi-sha

They are qualified yes, but do they practise collective resposibility? It seems that they are more comfortable playing the musical chair. When will the music stops?

As salesmen? They are the best salesmen ie they can promises after sales services right up to the end of warranty period. If, and if the warranty period pass, they can return and claim more VO and what nots. The last I heard, the roof structure cost RM 30M and the anchor for the space frame itself cost RM 7M. Now, maybe these supersalesmen can come up with a RM 50M proposal to replace the damaged roof.

Sue JKR and MBs'? That's a good idea. If they have class actions in US and UK, maybe some concerned lawyers can come up with class action and sue the authorities. I mean, they have put the public at risk when they have prior knowledge that the erected structure was flawed. That's irresponsibility.

Anon 3:11 pm

I guess the police is waiting for someone to lodge an official report before they can investigate. The same goes to MACC. However, I agree with you that the police should not b waiting for official reports but to start their own investigation. I am sure the police and the army has their own engineers and they are more than capable to start the investigation.

I would love to see the Contractors being hauled up and remanded for at least 7 days to facilitate the investigation. We have to put some deterrence to all these nonsenses,. Maybe we can start small, let's start with the Contractor and consultants of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin...

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller!

Most sensible argument I have ever read since the debacle. Good read. No rush job bro....the proposal of ever-changing Stadium Terengganu's design had been going on since 1990, on paper. That was why public has no idea what was really going on.

It is interesting to read so many comments from so many people who know so many things....

nightcaller said...

Dear Anon 8:24

Thks. Well, at first glance u seem to know much about the project history.

You are correct to point out that the project design first took off in the 90's. In fact, the original design team is different from the final design team.

The project was, however, temporarily "shelved" because BN lost the state to PAS in 1999 and then revived when BN won the state in 2004.

Even the main contractor is different. Why? Ask Idris Jusoh, he has his own views. With Sukma 12 coming, it is slow, slow and finally rush job.

There are many who knows the background of the project but choose to keep silent.

And we haven't gone to commentd from the ground yet, inclusing a claim by one of teh farmers nearby, claiming that he heard a loud crackling noise 2 weeks before the mishap and initially pinned it on the noise from airplane...

And if u happen to be in KT, try visiting those kedai kopis and you will hear more interesting stories...:)

Anonymous said...

I can guess, but what's really happened? Can't conclude seeing it from afar.

nightcaller said...

Anon 12:00

What happened? Well, the main support structure at both end is still intact, meaning that the pile cap (bored pile) is still there and not uprooted.

The space frame structure collapsed approximately 10 meters away from the pile cap structure from both ends. The authorities barricaded the area and the "tourists" can only has see the failed structure from 300 meters out.

I would not speculate on the primary reason why it failed. One blog, however, pointed out that the spaceframe structure was not uniformly space so the load was not distributed evenly.

Pls refer to the photos where the red circle indicated the possible weakness points as mentioned by the said blogger http://mampat.blogspot.com/2009/06/stadium-runtuh-siapa-bertanggungjawab.html

tq

Anonymous said...

Aha.....this is the portion where the spaceframe spans approximately 40m from end column to the next. This is the most critical deflection area compared to the middle spaceframe, right up there at royal box.

Hmmm.....but the first to collapse was not around that area huh? Which part collapse first?

nightcaller said...

Anon 7:44 am

From the info gathered from the ground, the first part to collapse is around this 40 m from the end column (eastern part of the stadium). This sets up the domino effect whereby the rest of the structure give way and in the photos provided, collapsed towards the eastern end.

Tq...:)

Anonymous said...

Okay......that's basically what I've expected. The geometry of the structure (shell effect) contributed to the collapse pattern seen on site. The 2 supporting "legs" left and right of the roof (from this 40m to the last stump) gave way resulting in the collapse of the middle spaceframe around the royal box area bringing everything to the ground.

Perhaps. Maybe and maybe not.

Any theory?

Anonymous said...

From one newspaper

"KUALA TERENGGANU: An eleventh-hour decision to use a space frame design for the roof of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium could have led to its collapse on Tuesday morning.
A source familiar with the RM292 million project said the space frame roof that came crashing down was never part of the stadium's original design.
A decision was made at the last minute to cover the grandstand area with a space frame roofing to add a "curvy, grandeur and sophisticated" look to it."

Hmmm.......spaceframe was never an eleventh-hour decision.

Design process started since 1990 which is equivalent to 17 years of studies. So it is puzzling if no one ever look into spaceframe suitability while spacframe itself is known to be the best & cheapest solution for long span structures.

Let us ponder for a while:-
1. Stadium Hassan Yunus (Larkin, Johor)
2. Indoor stadium Pasir Gudang, Johor
3. Badminton Hall MBJB, Johor
4. Stadium Hang Jebat, Melaka
5. Stadium Paroi, N9
6. Akuatik Centre, Paroi, N9
7. Stadium MPPJ, Kelana Jaya
8. Stadium Cheras (DBKL)
9. Stadium Negara, KL
10. Stadium Shah Alam, Selangor
11. Stadium Darul Aman, Kedah
12. Stadium in Perlis, cant remember the name
13. Stadium Mizan, Trengganu
14. Stadium Kuantan, Pahang
15. Stadium Likas, Sabah
16. Likas Akuatik centre, Sabah
17. Mine convention centre, KL
18. LIMA exibition centre, do not know the name
19. Persada Johor, Johor
20. Akuatik Centre, shah alam
21. Pusat Sains Negara

and many more...

They are all done using spaceframe & they are all still standing except for Stadium Mizan.

So what reason could it be? Let us ponder

nightcaller said...

Anon 6:58 and 8:36

The 2 "supporting" legs (anchor blocks) did not give way. The space frame structure is still firmly in place even after the collapse. At least that's what is seen on the ground.

Some say that the deformed shape contributed to the failure. Some of the engineers familiar with the site refused to speculate the reasons and leave it to the committee.

Agreed that the design process started since 1990 but it must be pointed out that the design process has undergone changes to suit the conditions. Apart from that, the only original Consultants for the project is the Architects whilst different Consulting Engineers were involved in different stages of design process.

It shall be noted that the stadium design and the construction were put on hold several times due to political climate and political decisions.

Anonymous said...

The "supporting legs" stated meant as the whole portion of spaceframe from the anchor block to the next column. Not only the anchor block. That's what I meant.

The rest....yup! agreed. What a knowledge we can get from this disaster if we keep an open mind and learn from our mistakes. At least bridge engineering did improve by leap and bound after Tacoma bridge disaster.

Thanks nightcaller, you seem to have first hand info on the site condition. Share with us your knowledge so that we can be a better community.

Bless you nightcaller.

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
You know that I am quite sick now.....I would try to reply you on this. Reminds me of the New World Hotel collapse (Singapore) in 1984. a series of event leading to the collapse of the whole building. The one is the Nicole Highway collapse quite recently. In fact, the Circle MRT line has been delayed because of this.
2 things come into my minds. Either those who knew would not tell because it would become their responsibilities or they don't really know till later
Those who know but yet reluctantly to take responsibilities, initiate Rhodesia's solution.

Nightcaller,
Watch the "Whiskey Priest", Yes Minister series, you would know what I mean......Would try to analyse this.....Hmm.....I hate to say " Pointing finger" is not a good policy. Else, you would be seeing more buildings crumbling.

looes74

nightcaller said...

Looes74

Take the necessary medication...and take necessary rest and hoping that u will get well soon. :)

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Anonymous said...

So,what lesson have we learnt? Anyone willing to share?

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