http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21474074
What are the chances that BC signed off on that?
What are the chances that BC signed off on that?
Balcony collapse
- Thread starter ivixor
- Start date
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1. There appear to be 3 or 4 fixing holes per gallows bracket, which - depending on the type of fixing eg. Rawl Bolts, and how they were fixed, and what the background was that they were fixed to - would appear to be adequate, although decks fastened to timber frame structures must be bolted thro the wall.
2. The gallows bracket in view looks a little light, but it's not distorted, and is far too short to carry the cantilevered weight of the balcony, so i assume that supporting poles were propping the front of the balcony?
3. The fixings appear to have been torn from the wall, not from the gallows brackets, and the brackets have remained fixed to the balcony platform.
4.A The above suggests that either the supporting prop/posts failed by being inadequately specified, in terms of quality and quantity, or were wrongly positioned and/or fixed.
4.B Or, the balcony was overloaded.
4.C Something disturbed the posts or their fixings.
5. These are just a few observations ref. some of the obvious things to look for, but there are, of course, other variables that might have contributed to the collapse.
I've dealt with collapsed decks, and car ports, in the past, but never a balcony.
6. There is another point: that building work is taking place at the site, and, perhaps, the balcony was work-in-progress and not meant for use.
And, who removed that section of the patio railing, when and why?
I enjoy trying to work out what happened and how, perhaps others would chip in their two pence worth as well. It sounds cold blooded, but it may help me from making some similar, future cock-up.
2. The gallows bracket in view looks a little light, but it's not distorted, and is far too short to carry the cantilevered weight of the balcony, so i assume that supporting poles were propping the front of the balcony?
3. The fixings appear to have been torn from the wall, not from the gallows brackets, and the brackets have remained fixed to the balcony platform.
4.A The above suggests that either the supporting prop/posts failed by being inadequately specified, in terms of quality and quantity, or were wrongly positioned and/or fixed.
4.B Or, the balcony was overloaded.
4.C Something disturbed the posts or their fixings.
5. These are just a few observations ref. some of the obvious things to look for, but there are, of course, other variables that might have contributed to the collapse.
I've dealt with collapsed decks, and car ports, in the past, but never a balcony.
6. There is another point: that building work is taking place at the site, and, perhaps, the balcony was work-in-progress and not meant for use.
And, who removed that section of the patio railing, when and why?
I enjoy trying to work out what happened and how, perhaps others would chip in their two pence worth as well. It sounds cold blooded, but it may help me from making some similar, future cock-up.
I think this is the problem. An inadequate design and lack of support at the front of the balcony. As you say, the balcony would clearly require supports at the front, but were there any?
The front supports wouldn't need to be anything more than 50x50 box section at a guess, so it's unlikely (if there were any) that they would fail.
I think it's more likely that there were never any front supports. The gallows brackets would probably be adequate to hold up the self weight of the balcony, but as soon as you get five people all stood right on the edge of the balcony, no way will those fixings hold.
Resin fixings have very little capacity into masonry anyway, and as you say, the brackets are far too short for the length that the balcony cantilevers.
Either it wasn't designed at all, or it has been designed badly.
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Wall fixings are generally designed for a vertical load, and as as soon as the force moves off the vertical and starts to pull on a fixing, then that is when it struggles
The balcony has rotated away from the wall and pulled the fixings out
If those gallows brackets were the only means of support, then they were too small to take the load from the balcony, ie the balcony was too wide for the brackets alone
The balcony has rotated away from the wall and pulled the fixings out
If those gallows brackets were the only means of support, then they were too small to take the load from the balcony, ie the balcony was too wide for the brackets alone
Puts another slant on smoking kills.
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