By Nikki De Guzman:
Thai developer, Don Muang Grand Plaza, will likely demolish and rebuild its Pathum Thani residential project, as one of the two apartment blocks has tilted, reported The Bangkok Post.
“There is an 80 percent chance that we will destroy the building and rebuild again,” the company said in a statement. “But we can’t confirm what we are going to do with the building at the moment. We are still looking into the problem and considering the best solution.”
Located behind the Zeer Rangsit Mall in Lam Luk Ka, the project was supposed to feature 132 rooms on each of the apartment blocks.
On Monday, the Ku Kot municipality has already issued evacuation and work halt orders, after residents reported that one of the towers was collapsing. The labourers were also sent home.
According to one of the workers, the project is now 100 percent complete in the exterior, while the interior will likely be completed in June.
Thanes Weerasiri, Secretary-General of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said, “No one can really tell what caused the building to tilt because no one can go into the area to conduct a detailed examination to determine the reason for collapse.”
“The whole area is too sensitive and we don’t want to do anything to make it worse.”
However, he shared three theories to explain the tilting based on an initial inspection, namely the condition of the soil, the size of the foundation piles and their placement as well as the position of the foundation piles.
“Both buildings have the foundation piles 21m underground as required by law,” he said. “The buildings should be able to stay up without collapsing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thanes said there is not much to worry about if the building ultimately collapses as it would fall away from the residences.
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@allproperty.com.sg
Recent stories you may have missed
Eastern Europeans injected US$1.2b in Phuket: report
Khao Yai popular for its homes: report
Sena Development eyes boost from Bangkok mall
Get daily property news in Thai and English straight to your Inbox from Thailand’s number one property website. Subscribe today for free.