pre-cast concrete high-rise buildings could be death traps

Auckland-based structural engineer John Scarry said that buildings made of pre-cast concrete panels – a method used in Christchurch – in the last decade involved the use of "almost universally wrong and unconservative" beam shear calculations.

His warnings about the building method have prompted an investigation by the Institution of Professional Engineers. However, Mr Scarry said the problem is symptomatic of wide-ranging deficiencies in the building industry, including the leaky building syndrome, since design and inspection rules were eased about 10 years ago. Mr Scarry's concerns about pre-cast buildings have been supported by new research by the University of Canterbury's civil engineering department into the earthquake susceptibility of tilt-slab and pre-cast concrete panel buildings.

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