Engineering professor says

While the inquiry into the cause of Wednesday’s accident at the Customs and Excise building construction site, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, is still ongoing, an engineering professor has said scaffolding can be compromised if it is not properly secured to “solid structure” or there is foundation failure or damaged poles.

Twenty workers installing glass were injured when the scaffolding they were on collapsed. The workers were at different levels of the ten-storey scaffolding.

In an interview, UWI professor of construction, engineering and management, TM Lewis, said investigators will have to examine photos of the original structure before the accident.

He said, “The biggest problem with that kind of scaffolding going up ten storeys is that it is bound to have instability, unless it is attached to a solid structure.”

Lewis said it is supposed to be attached at every third level to a solid structure.

He said if the attachments are done properly there should not be any collapse.

He said one of the dangers with scaffolding is the structure on which it stands. “If there is too much rain in the lead up, the rain can cause the foundation to be affected.”

NH International Caribbean Ltd executive chairman Emile Elias has said rain would have no effect since the base of the scaffolding was concrete.

Lewis said a concrete base should be stable.

He said if the foundation of a scaffolding failed then there would be puncturing through the concrete.

Lewis said, “What will not show up is if the scaffolding poles were bent. This can happen if they were mishandled. The stability of the scaffolding can be handicapped.”

He said if there was a lack of attachment to a solid structure then there would be signs.

“There would be damage where it was attached and pulled away. It would have left gouges where it pulled out of the structure.”

Asked if the integrity of the scaffolding could wear down over time, Lewis said this could happen which is why checks should be done to ensure there is no physical displacement or damage caused by trucks and equipment on a busy site.