Probe into swaying high-rises that leave residents ‘seasick’
RESIDENTS in high-rise blocks in Jiading District say they are being made “seasick” by a strange swaying motion in their homes.
When it starts, objects and light fittings swing back and forth in homes in the Nanxiang Town community.
Vibrations from the nearby Nanxiang Stone Processing Company plant are believed to be responsible, and Nanxiang Town government said yesterday that it has launched an investigation.
On Wednesday, experts from the Environmental Protection Bureau of Jiading District investigated the phenomenon.
“They found that when the factory machines are in operation, the rocking can be observed, but when they’re turned off, it gradually comes to a halt,” said Jiading press officer Liu Jing.
When a Shanghai Daily reporter visited an apartment on the 15th floor of building No.16 on Deyuan Road yesterday morning, the swaying sensation was evident.
Crystals hanging from a chandelier light fitting, clothes hangers were all rocking in a steady, lulling rhythm, while water lapped back and forth in the toilet bowl.
And when the reporter took a seat in the living room, she was immediately aware that she was also rocking gently, in sync with the objects around her.
“It happens intermittently, day and night, and makes me feel queasy,” a resident in the apartment said.
In an apartment on the 17th floor in the adjacent building No.17, residents told Shanghai Daily they are often awoken at night by the clink of crystals on their chandelier fitting. Residents said the problem eased earlier this year, but has worsened since June.
A residents’ committee official said complaints were all from the 12th floor in the two 18-story buildings.
Problems were first reported in June last year, said a manager surnamed Xie from Sunlin Property Management, which is contracted by developer Poly Xiangjia Real Estate.
The developer commissioned a seismic report from the Shanghai Geophysical Society. It concluded that the Nanxiang Stone Processing Company, located 300 meters away from the buildings, was the only “suspicious source of the rocking”.
“The source, vibrating at a frequency similar to the fundamental frequency of the buildings, caused resonance or oscillation of greater amplitude to them, more salient on higher floors because they vibrate more than lower floors even without the source,” it said.
The report said the vibrating was not damaging the buildings.
Nanxiang government said it will team up with the developer to produce a wider-reaching report to determine whether the Nanxiang Stone Processing Company is indeed the culprit.
The stone processing factory began business in 1996, while the residential complex is a recent construction, with residents moving in January last year.
Jiading District said it asked the Nanxiang Stone Processing Company to change the frequency of its machines or its work schedule, but it refused.
The Nanxiang Stone Processing Company could not be contacted for comment.
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