Probe shows China building toppled due to dug-out soil

Published: July 3, 2009
Tags: China, collapse, Lotus Riverside

Chinese men look at the toppled 13-story residential apartment building at the construction site of the Lotus Riverside residential complex in Minhang District, Shanghai, China, Thursday. Workers piled excavated earth on the north side of the building while digging a 4.6-meter underground garage at the same time. The pressure on both sides left the foundations unable to support the building. It toppled and killed one worker on June 27. Photo by Imaginechina via AP Images

Shanghai (AP) — A nearly finished 13-story apartment building in Shanghai toppled over because piles of dirt were excavated to build an underground parking garage, according to initial investigation results, experts said Friday.

“When we arrived on the scene, we were very shook up. In my 46 years of work, I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing,” said Jiang Huancheng, a prominent local engineer and professor at Shanghai’s Tongji University.

City government spokesman Chen Qiwei said Friday that officials were still investigating who should be held responsible for the June 27 collapse, which killed one construction worker.

The accident was an embarrassment for Shanghai, a showcase city of 20 million in the midst of a construction boom as it prepares to host the 2010 World Expo.

Jiang and other officials told reporters their study showed the suburban building’s design and construction conformed with safety regulations and that more analysis is needed to pinpoint the reason why it fell over almost intact.

There are differing opinions among the experts, but the main conclusion is that the cause is the pile of dirt next to the building, Jiang said.

“We’re still discussing it,” he said.

Unusually aggressive reports by the state-controlled media have centered on possible collusion between the property developer, the contractor and others supervising the work. Earlier this week, the government said nine people were “under supervision” in connection with the investigation.

Officials in Shanghai’s Minhang district, the location of the “Lotus Riverside” apartment compound where the building fell, will release results of their investigation later, Chen said, refusing further comment.

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