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[Lite Beer]

DIN DAENG FLATS
Din Daeng flats 'an earthquake risk'
Pratch Rujivanarom
The Nation

Engineers Institute begins 4month study on safety of these notoriously old blocks

BANGKOK: -- DIN DAENG Flats are an earthquake risk as the buildings are old and have undergone improper enlargement, the Engineers' Institute of Thailand (EIT) warned yesterday.

A team of engineers led by EIT president Professor Suchatvee Suwansawat went to Din Daeng Flats in Bangkok's Din Daeng district yesterday at the request of residents to inspect the 32 buildings' safety - and determine it is worth renovating them.

The study will take four months, then the results and academic opinions will be handed to the Din Daeng Community renovation project committee to let its members from the National Housing Authority (NHA) and residents at the flats decide on what to do.

But the head of the EIT civil-engineering department, Anek Siriphanishakorn, warned that the buildings would suffer great damage if there were a powerful quake near Bangkok, as many cracks and enlargements were found during the inspection. This was because of "the buildings' age and the fact they were not built to resist an earthquake", he said.

"There is also potential that Bangkok will be hit by an earthquake from the nearby Si Sawat Fault, as the earth layer beneath Bangkok is soft and could bolster the force of a quake," he said.

Suchatvee said that from his observation of the buildings' exterior, the structure of most was not good, but at the moment he could not say if they were safe or not.

"I found many cracks on the walls and ceilings, which indicates a problem with the building structure. I saw some cracks that revealed the steel inside, which showed that the steel rods were rusted, and that causes the building to take less weight."

It was worrying to find buildings in this condition, but he was not surprised considering the flats were more than 50 years old and many improper room enlargements were done.

"Normally a concrete building can last more than 100 years but there are many factors that lower its lifetime such as lack of maintenance, unplanned enlargements, building misuse, and disaster," he said.

EIT secretary Siriwat Chaichana said three inspection processes would be done. The first phase was a visual inspection and measuring the strength of concrete, while Phase 2 would be an in-depth inspection. The last phase would be an assessment on whether it is worth renovating the buildings. The process would take four months.

Despite the engineers' concerns local inhabitant Kittiya Saepour said she felt safe living in her flat and had no intention to move to a new place.

"I have lived here for more than 30 years and everything is fine. I am not concerned about the building as my flat is still strong," Kittiya said.

But another resident, named Euod, said the building was actually very weak.

"My flat on the fourth floor often shakes when a big truck drives by. I can't imagine what would happen if an earthquake struck. Therefore, I want to move to the new Din Daeng Flats, as per the NHA proposal," Euod said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Din-Daeng-flats-an-earthquake-risk-30268173.html

-- The Nation 2015-09-05

[impulse]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

[trogers]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

[impulse]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

The same can be said about hundreds (or thousands) of BKK properties. Why is this one being singled out right now?

[Borzandy]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

The same can be said about hundreds (or thousands) of BKK properties. Why is this one being singled out right now?

Because some influential guy needs some plot of land to build his own condos.

[Carmine6]

"improper enlargement"? There was a Korean shopping center that collapsed of its own weight due to an extra floor being added and some other changes to the original design. Didn't take an earthquake.

[worgeordie]

They will just keep talking about the state of these flats

until they do fall down,this has been going on for years

already.

regards Worgeordie

[ratcatcher]

Do these flats / apartments stand on a large area of land? Ho far from the pending Makkasan development are they? Land in that area must be very valuable with the development nearby?

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Forget the old buildings. You think most of the new "hiso" constructions would be left standing after the earthquake?

[SOTIRIOS]

.......duh.....

...the word of the day...week...year....decade...century.......

[lildragon]

If there was an earthquake in bkk over 6.0 it would be absolute chaos. It's quite a scary propespect!

[gandalf12]

I would doubt if any buildng in Thailand would survive an earthquake. As far as I am aware no buildings in Thailand have been built to earthquake survival standards.

[wow64]

Every building is an earthquake risk in Bangkok... Even the parks.

Sent from my c64

[espinoza]

This smells CORRUPTION. The junta general says he will fight corruption, well her he has a good case. Good luck junta boss, or not so much boss at all?

[trogers]

If there was an earthquake in bkk over 6.0 it would be absolute chaos. It's quite a scary propespect!

Try Singapore for chaos as over 80% of their people live in public housing...

[trogers]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

The same can be said about hundreds (or thousands) of BKK properties. Why is this one being singled out right now?

Because it was built over 50 years ago with handmixed concrete and brought up with rope and bucket on bicycle wheels.

Readymix concrete, tower cranes and concrete pumps were only brought into this country in the early 80's.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[BKKdreaming]

anyone know what the largest earthquake to ever hit bangkok ?

I am going to assume these are old block wall buildings with no rebar , so when the bottom blocks break the building can collapse on itself.

This is what happened in Los Angeles and after that buildings had to be retrofitted with rebar so they would not collapse ,

if you care here is a link to the earthquakes around here

https://foreshock.wordpress.com/significant-la-area-earthquakes-1769-present/

we even had a 7.3 in Landers June 28, 1992 @ 4:57 am but that is out in the desert where not many people live , if it was in the city it would have been real bad ,

but we know Thais will not ask others for advise

[impulse]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

The same can be said about hundreds (or thousands) of BKK properties. Why is this one being singled out right now?

Because it was built over 50 years ago with handmixed concrete and brought up with rope and bucket on bicycle wheels.

Readymix concrete, tower cranes and concrete pumps were only brought into this country in the early 80's.

I don't doubt that, and I'm not contending it's not an earthquake risk. But it's one of hundreds of BKK properties in exactly the same situation and condition. Why is this one getting such scrutiny at this point in time?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for protecting the people in the case of an earthquake by improving building standards. But my cynical side says there's something else ($$$$) going on here.

[trogers]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

The real estate would eventually come about, especially after a quake and a few thousand caskets...

The same can be said about hundreds (or thousands) of BKK properties. Why is this one being singled out right now?

Because it was built over 50 years ago with handmixed concrete and brought up with rope and bucket on bicycle wheels.

Readymix concrete, tower cranes and concrete pumps were only brought into this country in the early 80's.

I don't doubt that, and I'm not contending it's not an earthquake risk. But it's one of hundreds of BKK properties in exactly the same situation and condition. Why is this one getting such scrutiny at this point in time?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for protecting the people in the case of an earthquake by improving building standards. But my cynical side says there's something else ($$$$) going on here.

This is public housing on leased land, with multiple family units on each floor.

Private property on freehold land would be left to their property owners, though control of new design and specifications are under BMA.

[Estrada]

I would doubt if any buildng in Thailand would survive an earthquake. As far as I am aware no buildings in Thailand have been built to earthquake survival standards.

Buildings constructed after 2007 under Ministerial Regulation B.E. 2550 on Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures are safe from earthquake damage. Buildings constructed in years prior to the regulation, however, are likely to lack proper seismic design standards and thus require reinforcement of structural integrity to meet said standards.

[i claudius]

My sister in law owns a block there , must admit ,it does not look all that great , still ,keeps her in nice cars

[geriatrickid]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

I thought the same, but the engineers have a point. The concern is not the earthquake itself, but the effect that even a low intensity earthquake would have on the soil. Bangkok is built over soil which is at the highest risk for liquefaction.

The Chao Phraya plain in which the Bangkok city is located is low-lying and consists of a broad basin filled with sedimentary soils which form alternate layers of clay, sand, and clay. The upper clay layer is soft and highly compressible followed by a stiff clay layer extending to about 20 m or so and then followed by a layer of sand.

Many buildings, particularly the type of building mentioned here were simply plunked down. Once the supporting soil liquefies, the building will most likely topple or shift, causing the weight to be unequally distributed, with the result, a building collapse. We have seen this before in China, the USA, and Japan. The engineers' warning should be heeded.

Edited September 6, 2015 by geriatrickid

[CNXBKKMAN]

6.0 earthquake in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai last year. Plenty of old crappy concrete buildings and almost nothing fell down.

[Tomtomtom69]

Different soil conditions up there

[gandalf12]

If there was an earthquake in bkk over 6.0 it would be absolute chaos. It's quite a scary propespect!

Try Singapore for chaos as over 80% of their people live in public housing...

But the housing standard in Singapore is good

[Jonmarleesco]

'Suchatvee said that ... It was worrying to find buildings in this condition, but he was not surprised considering the flats were more than 50 years old and many improper room enlargements were done.' Why would he be surprised? This is Thailand, after all.

[MiKT]

I wonder who's casting greedy eyes on the real estate once they're condemned and removed?

I thought the same, but the engineers have a point. The concern is not the earthquake itself, but the effect that even a low intensity earthquake would have on the soil. Bangkok is built over soil which is at the highest risk for liquefaction.

The Chao Phraya plain in which the Bangkok city is located is low-lying and consists of a broad basin filled with sedimentary soils which form alternate layers of clay, sand, and clay. The upper clay layer is soft and highly compressible followed by a stiff clay layer extending to about 20 m or so and then followed by a layer of sand.

Many buildings, particularly the type of building mentioned here were simply plunked down. Once the supporting soil liquefies, the building will most likely topple or shift, causing the weight to be unequally distributed, with the result, a building collapse. We have seen this before in China, the USA, and Japan. The engineers' warning should be heeded.

Yes, I seem to remember after the last significant earthquake in Bangkok about 10 years ago, reading that apartment blocks of 10 stories height are at the most risk due to the nature of the soils you mention (particularly the Bangkok clay) causing them to resonate at sympathetic freqencies to those caused by the earthquakes most likely to occur here and the structures being relatively rigid, whilst higher buildings can sway a little more and are less likely to suffer damage. Not sure if the 2007 regulations (bought in after that quake) apply only to high rise buildings though.