Sunday, March 16, 2008 Engineer assures City Hall annex is safe
A PRIVATE engineer and contractor, whom Mayor Tomas Osmeña asked to inspect the City Hall annex building, assured “there is no cause for alarm” over the cracks noted in the basement, said City Information Officer Nagiel Bañacia.
Engineer Pericles Dakay checked the basement yesterday morning and took measurements and samples of the white substance noted in the cracks.
“The cracks do not affect the integrity of the building and its foundation. The cracks are just too shallow. They did not indicate a significant structural distress or a lack of durability,” said Bañacia, quoting Dakay.
The cracks, Bañacia added, measured just two millimeters wide and two to three millimeters deep.
Dakay is also reviewing the design and reinforcement-placing blueprints of the building, built in 1998 by WT Construction.
The mayor had said he tapped Dakay to help investigate the basement cracks “because I consider him to be the best structural engineer in the city.”
Bañacia said that after the inspection, Dakay suggested measures to improve “functional performance” of the building, like draining stagnant water and prohibiting the washing of cars there.
The structural engineer also recommended for the City to institute ways to keep water from seeping into the basement, to improve the basement concrete, and to keep corrosive materials off the area.
Bañacia said Dakay will submit the specimens he collected to the University of San Carlos laboratory for analysis.
The substance could have been the result of the concrete coming in contact with materials like engine oil or metal rust. Ballot boxes, seized video carrera machines and even garbage can be found in the basement, he said.
“Visually, everybody said it could be salt or seawater. It could (have been caused by) chemical reactions from engine oil, paints from the metals of ballot boxes (deposited in the basement) or merely moisture,” Bañacia said.
“But we don’t have a scientific answer to this, except if we conduct laboratory tests,” he added.
Osmeña last Friday assured that the building is safe, as he was told that no cracks were noted in the beams and posts of the structure.
Testion
“I’m assuring them (City Hall employees) of their safety. The mayor is here (holding office on the eighth floor), what more assurance do you want? Now, when the mayor will transfer to another building, then you have something to worry about,” he told reporters last Friday.
Bañacia, also the City’s protocol officer, said that as early as last year, he has been calling for the ballot boxes kept in the basement to be transferred, specifically to the Taboan Public Market’s second floor.
He said he had requested for a program of works and estimates (Powe) to transform the area into a bodega. The Powe was already approved, he added, but the project still has to be realized.
After his ocular inspection, Dakay also promised to send personnel from his construction company to conduct “non-destructive testing,” like tapping the basement floor with a hammer or using a chain drag, to identify cracks underneath the concrete finishing. (RHM)
