Ronan Point
A faulty nut in a connection to the gas stove was the cause of the gas leak. The explosion was a comparatively weak one but the structure of the building was even weaker.
Extracts from this Case Study
Ronan Point was designed to withstand wind velocities of only 100 kph (63 mph). A wind of 170 kph (105 mph) could be expected to occur at two hundred feet above the ground every sixty years, within the life expectancy of the building.
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A shocked Webb commented, I knew we were going to find bad workmanship what surprised me was the sheer scale of it. Not a single joint was correct. Fixing straps were unattached: leveling nuts were not wound down, causing a significant loading to be transmitted via the bolts: panels were placed on bolts instead of mortar. But the biggest shock of all was the crucial H-2 load-bearing joints between floor and wall panels. Some of the joints had less than fifty percent of the mortar specified. (Wearne, 2000).
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The investigations found that the Ronan Point apartment tower was deeply flawed in both design and construction. The existing building codes were inadequate for ensuring the safety and integrity of high-rise precast concrete apartment buildings. In particular, the design wind pressures were too low and did not account for the height of the building. The Larsen Nielson building system, intended for buildings with only six stories, had been extended past the point of safety.
A faulty nut in a connection to the gas stove was the cause of the gas leak. The explosion was a comparatively weak one but the structure of the building was even weaker.
Extracts from this Case Study
Ronan Point was designed to withstand wind velocities of only 100 kph (63 mph). A wind of 170 kph (105 mph) could be expected to occur at two hundred feet above the ground every sixty years, within the life expectancy of the building.
~~~
A shocked Webb commented, I knew we were going to find bad workmanship what surprised me was the sheer scale of it. Not a single joint was correct. Fixing straps were unattached: leveling nuts were not wound down, causing a significant loading to be transmitted via the bolts: panels were placed on bolts instead of mortar. But the biggest shock of all was the crucial H-2 load-bearing joints between floor and wall panels. Some of the joints had less than fifty percent of the mortar specified. (Wearne, 2000).
~~~
The investigations found that the Ronan Point apartment tower was deeply flawed in both design and construction. The existing building codes were inadequate for ensuring the safety and integrity of high-rise precast concrete apartment buildings. In particular, the design wind pressures were too low and did not account for the height of the building. The Larsen Nielson building system, intended for buildings with only six stories, had been extended past the point of safety.
