Poor Quality Steel Blamed For Deaths

[Jollygoodfellow]

How safe are you feeling?  :no:

 

 

Philippine earthquake deaths: poor quality steel blamed

 

Building safety concerns prompt Philippines crackdown on smuggling of steel products.

 

Manila: Poor quality steel products used during construction have been blamed for the collapse of thousands of structures during a Magnitude 7.2 earthquake in central Philippines last year.

In a statement, Senator Bam Aquino said the use of below-par steel products, believed to have been smuggled into the country from China, were responsible for many deaths in the October 15, 2013 earthquake that struck the island provinces of Bohol and Cebu.

The earthquake killed at least 222 people and injured 976 as victims were struck by falling structures and debris.

Although there a number of earthquakes have hit the Philippines in recent years, Aquino, chair of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said the number of lives lost and people injured would not have been that big, had the structures been more solidly built.

 

“Hundreds of lives were lost because of substandard and inferior steel products used in houses and other infrastructure,” Aquino stressed as he filed a resolution seeking a probe into the proliferation of uncertified, substandard and smuggled steel products in the country.

Steel products entering the country are required to undergo government testing for quality. They are examined for tensile strength and ability to resist corrosion among other qualities.

Aquino said he had personally witnessed the devastation caused by the earthquake in a recent trip to several areas in Bohol.

“During my visit, I saw two houses just several metres apart. One was completely destroyed and the other was still standing after the earthquake,” he said.

He said selling substandard steel was caused by greed and a matter of corruption.

 

“That’s why we need to investigate this before we lose hundreds of lives to another earthquake or devastation, God forbid,” Aquino stressed.

Aquino mentioned a report by the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) in the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake, which revealed that there was widespread use of substandard bars and angle bars in the construction of residential structures and public buildings such as markets and bridges.

The senator also received reports from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), PISI and Steel Angles, Shapes and Sections Manufacturers Association of the Philippines, Inc. on the rampant selling of substandard steel products such as reinforcing steel bars — or rebars — in different parts of the country.

Rebars are used in construction of buildings and other infrastructure to ensure strength and integrity in their concrete foundations and structures.

 

Earlier, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) confiscated P24 million (Dh1,966,139) worth of smuggled steel from China at the Manila port.

A total 26 container vans filled with specialised alloy-coated steel coils were seized by authorities. The shipment, which arrived last November 12, 2013, had been misdeclared as a product other than steel.

“Aside from curbing smuggling, we at the Bureau of Customs are mandated to stop the entry of substandard products in the market. These products pose risks for our people’s health and safety,” said Customs Commissioner John Sevilla

 

 

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/philippine-earthquake-deaths-poor-quality-steel-blamed-1.1306920

[Mike S]

And yet the use of substandard so called concrete blocks could not be the cause of damage to these houses .... ahhhhhh but wait those blocks (you know the kind that crumble in you hands when you pick them up) are made locally and not imported and with the QC (Quality Control .... sic) used here by Filipinos it has to be the steel re-bar ..... yea right .... when I see re-bar being used to hold together 10ft high block walls and houses that is about the thickness of a pencil I can definitely see where the re-bar is at fault and not driven by cost of building as cheaply as possible .... JMHO

:cheersty:

[JJReyes]

I like the story of Taiwan buying American warships as scrap metal and failing to read the fine print written in English. The ships were nuclear powered and while the reactors had been removed, some of the surrounding metal was highly radioactive. Either the Taiwanese failed to read or they didn't care. Several luxury apartments in Taipei are contaminated because the structural steel use is radioactive.

 

The Philippines has standards for construction of commercial buildings and homes. The problem is quality control. Accepting the lowest bid or material price is sometimes a bad policy because they will make up for the price difference by cheating. You or someone you trust must be onsite to inspect materials as they arrive. For hollow blocks, hold one up at arm's length and drop it to the ground. If it breaks into several pieces, that's okay. If it crumbles, you might as well use mud bricks. They are probably cheaper.