20 Bangkok Shop Houses Subside

[george]

20 Bangkok shop houses subside

BANGKOK: -- Residents of 20 shop houses on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bang Kapi district fled for their life early Saturday morning when their buildings partially subsided.

The residents told city officials that their 3-storey houses on Soi Rakhamhaeng 58/4 developed loud noises at about 2 am and started to declined backward as it subsided.

The subsiding stopped at the buildings declined to the position about 15 degrees backwards, Bansophit Mekwichai, deputy Bangkok governor said.

The city administration declared the area dangerous zone and does not allow residents to go back inside the buildings.

Bansophit said officials put up temporary shelters for residents of the 20 shop houses pending an inspection by engineers whether the houses, which built 30 years ago, should demolished or not.

-- The Nation 2008-07-19

[sriracha john]

Reminiscent of lumberjacks yelling "Timber" just as a freshly sawed tree begins to topple over...

I'm no building inspector, but I would think 30 degrees is a bit out of spec for a house?...

Building cracks up and tilts

People ran for their lives yesterday after part of a three-story Ramkhamhaeng Road building cracked and tilted to the rear. The building in Soi 584/4 is divided into 20 shop-houses and was found to have cracks in the walls and floors.

There is now a 30-degree list to the rear.

Tenants evacuated taking their stock and belongings with them. Some moved goods to the front of the building with the help from disaster workers. No one was injured.

Bang Kapi district chief Prasert Thongnun says the 30-year old building started to cave in at 3am. *very very fortunate that the whole row didn't collapse on all 20 families in the middle of the night as they slept* The fire department was sent in, as were rescue teams.

Residents say they heard a loud crack and saw the building tilting over.

Prasert says there is no threat if the building collapses to the rear, which is vacant. Engineers will inspect the building for causes today.

- The Nation

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[dumball]

Reminiscent of lumberjacks yelling "Timber" just as a freshly sawed tree begins to topple over...

I'm no building inspector, but I would think 30 degrees is a bit out of spec for a house?...

Building cracks up and tilts

People ran for their lives yesterday after part of a three-story Ramkhamhaeng Road building cracked and tilted to the rear. The building in Soi 584/4 is divided into 20 shop-houses and was found to have cracks in the walls and floors.

There is now a 30-degree list to the rear.

Tenants evacuated taking their stock and belongings with them. Some moved goods to the front of the building with the help from disaster workers. No one was injured.

Bang Kapi district chief Prasert Thongnun says the 30-year old building started to cave in at 3am. *very very fortunate that the whole row didn't collapse on all 20 families in the middle of the night as they slept* The fire department was sent in, as were rescue teams.

Residents say they heard a loud crack and saw the building tilting over.

Prasert says there is no threat if the building collapses to the rear, which is vacant. Engineers will inspect the building for causes today.

- The Nation

If i remember correctly , Bangkok has been warned several times about 'the ground subsiding beneath thier feet ' due to the vast amounts of water they draw from underground sources , nothing done about it it seems . They have a similar problem in Cambodia at Angor Wat with temples showing cracks in rooves , same response most noticeable by its absence .

[rken]

Only the beginning. Get out your boats and rubber duckies

[Scott]

Very sad for the residents. I hope they can find a solution to the problem of subsistence. Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

[dumball]

Very sad for the residents. I hope they can find a solution to the problem of subsistence. Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

They did it with the leaning tower of Piza at great expense in time and money , that was only ONE building , the 'Cure' should have been 'Restriction' , but alas , most good advise often falls on deaf ears , but that does not mean people should stop giving good advise .

[cloudhopper]

Only the beginning. Get out-

Wait 'til the first megabaht high rise starts to go over. Or the first quake.

[Nampeung]

Unfortunatly BKK will subside a lot more in the near future

[cymruambyth1]

Unfortunatly BKK will subside a lot more in the near future

Please tell us more

[rgs2001uk]

Very sad for the residents. I hope they can find a solution to the problem of subsistence. Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

the solution is proper foundations, there are proper construction techniques, however i ask myself why they are not enforced, when was the last time you saw a clerk of works in thailand?

a proper drainage system with adequate pumps would help alleviate the problem, the problem is there are areas of bangkok that are actually below sea level, visit min buri in the wet season, take a trip on the san saep canal and you will see houses lower than the canal to get an idea of the problems.

one reason why houses are so cheap here is they arent built to last, if you can get 30 years out of a house you are doing well, rising damp will usually cause you problems well before that.

[dotcom]

Very sad for the residents. I hope they can find a solution to the problem of subsistence. Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

SUBSIDENCE

In this case the solution in to demolish the buildings.

In the future the solution is to use proper "footings" which every BKK builder is very familiar with.

Edited July 21, 2008 by dotcom

[jayjayjayjay]

Very sad for the residents. I hope they can find a solution to the problem of subsistence. Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

Surely there must be, yes off course there is, build on solid rock! The closest to Bangkok being 80 km up to Saraburi in the north, Prachinburi 100km to the east, Karnchanaburi 120km to the west or Borneo, 2500 km to the south!!!

Bangkok is build on custard(50 metres thick), a good 8 plus earthquake will result in liquefaction of the soil, which is not really true, coz it's liquid already, every house and building except the 10 story plus ones will sink into oblivion. Don't expect too many survivors!!!!!!! When that happens there might be a sold base to build on. I think all the cement in Bangkok sunk below ground level could previde some decent foundations for a new Bangkok.

[kmart]

Bangkok is build on custard(50 metres thick), a good 8 plus earthquake will result in liquefaction of the soil, which is not really true, coz it's liquid already, every house and building except the 10 story plus ones will sink into oblivion. Don't expect too many survivors!!!!!!! When that happens there might be a sold base to build on. I think all the cement in Bangkok sunk below ground level could previde some decent foundations for a new Bangkok.

Shock horror stuff.

[dotcom]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the big un.

[Tony Clifton]

Watch them try and figure out who fell and who jumped when the farang owned condos start leaning.

[roygsd]

Watch them try and figure out who fell and who jumped when the farang owned condos start leaning.

Cannot wait to see who gets the rebuilding contracts then!

Roy gsd

[quiksilva]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Apart from the Sakaing fault in the Andaman sea, 400 kms from Bangkok or the Three Pagoda fault zone and the Srisawat fault in Kanchanaburi, 200 kms from Bangkok.

Whilst building regulations in Bangkok do not currently require properties to be designed to resist tremors they are designed to withstand lateral wind loading which is similar to the forces encountered during earthquakes. For more information, I suggest visiting the following link which explain this in detail.

Edited July 23, 2008 by quiksilva

[cloudhopper]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Apart from the Sakaing fault in the Andaman sea, 400 kms from Bangkok or the Three Pagoda fault zone and the Srisawat fault in Kanchanaburi, 200 kms from Bangkok.

Whilst building regulations in Bangkok do not currently require properties to be designed to resist tremors they are designed to withstand lateral wind loading which is similar to the forces encountered during earthquakes. For more information, I suggest visiting the following link which explain this in detail.

And even if there was a code it wouldn't likely be enforced.

It's not so much about the forces on the buildings but about the soil they are built on. When it liquifies in an earthquake they become boats.

[jayjayjayjay]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Apart from the Sakaing fault in the Andaman sea, 400 kms from Bangkok or the Three Pagoda fault zone and the Srisawat fault in Kanchanaburi, 200 kms from Bangkok.

Whilst building regulations in Bangkok do not currently require properties to be designed to resist tremors they are designed to withstand lateral wind loading which is similar to the forces encountered during earthquakes. For more information, I suggest visiting the following link which explain this in detail.

And even if there was a code it wouldn't likely be enforced.

It's not so much about the forces on the buildings but about the soil they are built on. When it liquifies in an earthquake they become boats.

and not too many are waterproofed for floating. Mythbusters had a good one on using liquifaction to stop getaway cars. Possibly the only thing left in Bangkok will be roads and a few factory's that have enough surface area to float.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Surely there must be construction techniques that can help deal with situations with this problem.

"Use piles when trying to build on what's essentially swamp land" ?

[Scott]

Or maybe they could all move everything to the front of the house and then when it starts sinking, it will level everything out!

[quiksilva]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Apart from the Sakaing fault in the Andaman sea, 400 kms from Bangkok or the Three Pagoda fault zone and the Srisawat fault in Kanchanaburi, 200 kms from Bangkok.

Whilst building regulations in Bangkok do not currently require properties to be designed to resist tremors they are designed to withstand lateral wind loading which is similar to the forces encountered during earthquakes. For more information, I suggest visiting the following link which explain this in detail.

And even if there was a code it wouldn't likely be enforced.

I take it that you haven't actually built anything in Thailand then?

[cloudhopper]

Thankfully no fault lines anywhere close by.

Apart from the Sakaing fault in the Andaman sea, 400 kms from Bangkok or the Three Pagoda fault zone and the Srisawat fault in Kanchanaburi, 200 kms from Bangkok.

Whilst building regulations in Bangkok do not currently require properties to be designed to resist tremors they are designed to withstand lateral wind loading which is similar to the forces encountered during earthquakes. For more information, I suggest visiting the following link which explain this in detail.

And even if there was a code it wouldn't likely be enforced.

I take it that you haven't actually built anything in Thailand then?

You can take it that I have designed and built my own large 5 level home, swimming pool, several outbuildings, airplane hangar and runway.

Here in Thailand.