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November 26, 2014

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Pudong relocation home inspection halted

THE first inspectors sent to carry out urgent safety checks on homes of residents relocated in Pudong were yesterday stopped by householders.

Residents in Xinyuan West Community in the Pudong New Area’s Chuansha Town said they were not satisfied that the inspectors were independent.

Later, another team of inspectors was allowed on the Huaxia Road W. site. While a report was expected last night, it was not published.

Residents say one building has subsided so badly that by Saturday it had bumped into the next building, damaging the eaves.

They also complain of major cracks in the buildings.

Some said they are now afraid to live in the two 15-story blocks, built in 2012, which are home to 120 households.

They demanded that the town government, which owns the buildings, and developer Xinyuan Real Estate provide an independent safety report.

But when four inspectors arrived yesterday morning, they were confronted by residents wanting to see identity details.

The inspectors could not provide this, saying only that the assignment was given to them by their managers, and left the site, according to witnesses.

A resident surname Qin said they only wanted to make sure that the team was a third-party independent organization.

The Chuansha Town government said the inspectors work for a construction inspection team affiliated to Tongji University, which was authorized and sent by the developer.

The government invited another inspection team from the Shanghai Academy of Real Estate Sciences, which arrived at 3pm. The results were due last night, but by midnight nothing had emerged.

The No. 17 building in the development appears to have bumped into the eaves of the No. 18 building, which is said to be built on the same foundation.

The two blocks are just 11 centimeters apart to accommodate a road, according to developer Xinyuan. It insisted that the buildings were safe, were always attached at the top and the bumping together of the eaves is caused by subsidence within permitted standards.

But an expert who went to the scene after seeing television reports has strong misgivings about the structures.

“We need to see the original design and working blueprint of the buildings to judge who should be responsible for the incident,” said Dong Jianguo, a retired expert at Tongji University.

Dong worked at the construction research center of the university and was an expert in soil mechanical and foundation engineering.

“A certain level of subsidence is normal and allowed, however, it should be considered in the design process before the construction.

The two blocks are simply too close to each other,” Dong told Shanghai Daily.

Dong also warned that the subsidence damage could lead to leaks, which could in turn damage the elevators.

“The contact between the eaves means the two blocks are pressing each other and creating cracks, which might lead to water leakage and even affect the operation of elevators in the future,” said Dong.

Residents in the two blocks are among the 2,300 households relocated from elsewhere in Chuansha Town in 2012.




 

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