The construction boom exposes engineering failings

Mar 02, 2014 Features / Columnists, My Column

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By Adam Harris

There is a boom in the construction industry. Everyone recognizes that the offshoot of the price of gold was responsible. Many people enjoyed the trickledown effect because the people who actually mined the yellow stuff were the ordinary man.
He might have been working for someone, but with the high price the pay was good. However, many a small man worked the claim and when he got his earnings he opted to make his life better than it has ever been. Some bought homes, some built and others bought minibuses which they used to further boost their income.
The business community also enjoyed the boom and most sought to expand with the hope of attracting even more and this is where the problem began. In Georgetown, many of the already rich businessmen put up high-rise buildings.
Indeed, these buildings would change the face of Georgetown forever. From the “quaint wooden city” Georgetown is fast becoming a concrete jungle with tall buildings, many of which would put pressure on the already beleaguered electricity company.
That may be the most serious of the problems, because many of the contractors working on these buildings are not as qualified as they should be. Putting up tall buildings is something that demands that many factors be taken into consideration. For one, there must be a solid foundation based on certain technical capabilities.
It has not escaped notice that the Chinese contractors working on the Marriott Hotel actually said that they adopted a technique that negated the use of piles. I saw when they were constructing the Pegasus Hotel they drove huge piles into the ground. There was a pond on the location and Taylor Woodrow, the foreign contractors, were at pains to ensure that when they put up the hotel they had done everything to ensure that the structure did not sink.
The Marriott is a different kettle, but with the development of technology, one must appreciate what the Chinese say they have done. I did see images of a tall building in China that fell on its side. I am not sure about the extent of fatalities, but I must say that the images were dramatic.
But back home I do not know that our contractors working on our mudflats are as adept as the Chinese. A few weeks ago, on North Road, I saw workmen feverishly demolishing a tall building. It was far from complete but it has started to sink and threatened to collapse.
Who passed the plan is not known. I do know that when I first asked City Hall about the demolition programme, the officials there could not provide an answer. This meant that the City Council did not have a clue about the construction and even less about the reason for the demolition.
In Lodge, I am seeing another building that has begun to lean precariously eastward and threatening to come down on the homes nearby. The contractor is working feverishly to avoid further tilting of this building that is sinking into the ground and threatening to collapse.
In each case, a lot of money has gone to waste and this has come at a time when the price of gold has slumped.
There is no cash cow to refinance what has been lost in the construction of the buildings. The engineers supervising these projects must take blame. On Lamaha Street at the junction with Albert Street, there are tall concrete buildings. The engineer, I am told, is Walter Willis. He was properly trained so he knows what he is talking about when he advises a contractor. But one is at a loss to appreciate who is working with the other contractors.
In other countries, such people would face harsh sanctions, even jail, if the buildings collapse and kill people. And collapse is not farfetched. I saw a construction in Eccles where the face of a home being constructed for a middle income Guyanese came crashing down. I never found out who had to cut losses, but I do know that there are similarly substandard constructions all over the place as the building boom continues.
I would have expected that given the boom, places like the University of Guyana would have been bursting at the seams to produce engineers who would have been in demand. There are so many things happening in the country. Roads are being built; there is to be a new Demerara Harbour Bridge. These are major constructions.
And talking about constructions, it has not escaped notice that talks with the Brazilians about hydroelectricity do not include the Amaila Falls. I would have thought that with the road almost completed that would have been an area of focus. It would seem that the Brazilians know what time of the day it is when it comes to the Amaila Falls.
So perhaps those who opposed it did the country a favour. Word out of North Korea is that the country is in darkness. When I was there in 1983 the country was building the Nampo Lock Gate, a massive project that saw them damming a river to establish a hydroelectric facility.
That project was completed and for a long time it did supply gigawatts of power, so something must have gone wrong.

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