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Faulty Balcony Construction in Gldani District Results in Deaths and Uncertainties

December 11, 2008

Nona Suvarian, Tbilisi

On December 9 there was an add-on constructed balcony failure of an apartment extension in a residential building in Gldani district. This event proved to be a wake up call to the Tbilisi population and City Hall. The worst fears came true – and now the dead bear witness to the safety concerns for such add-ons. . If residents of Tbilisi had been protesting against the deconstruction of so-called “Kamikadze Loggias” now they themselves are requesting City Hall to test the safety of these “slapped together” add-ons and to take all necessary measures to protect them from immediate danger and advert the additional lost of life.

The add-on balcony “extension” of the residential building # 63 in Gldani micro district “A” collapsed at 3:00 PM on December 9. The body count, four dead under the collapsed ruins and one survivor. There could have been more if the more people had been home as most were working.

Steel frame construction was used for the total height of the building, rising from the ground to the ninth floor. Some residents of this entrance had constructed loggias with bricks that made the construction very heavy, which was in addition to the live load of the framework.  Eyewitnesses claim that the construction started imploding from the middle floors.

Although the construction pulled down on Tuesday the walls first had first cracks on Sunday. Furthermore, Tsitsino Gelashvili, a resident of the same residential building, stated that the balcony has been shaking for a long time already. One part of the iron construction had been deformed under the weight for a long time. The add-on balcony collapsed in front of her daughter.

“Everybody argued with me when I complained it was not necessary to construct such a huge add-on balconies. A two-meter-long balcony in length out from the original apartment would have been enough. Generally, people said that this residential building was already in poor conditions. I was not satisfied with work of the construction company from the get go.”

Today she is sure that such kind of flimsy and poorly constructed add-on constructions must be prohibited. Aside from safety concerns, it damages overall view. In additions, she says, “that we all have seen the results of such construction.”

According to the population the on-built construction was done early in 1990s by neighbors getting together and sharing in the work of the construction project. Residents of this building collected money and hired a construction company to complete the work.

The residential building # 63 has the same kind of add-on construction on the other side of their apartments too. It is only natural that residents of the building are especially scared most concerned after this recent collapse. In retrospect it was accident just waiting to happen.

Eka Ugrekhelidze: “Who will guarantee the sustainability of this building?! Such kind of constructions should be pulled down.”

Nana Bakuridze: “Since this construction pulled down the original building was seriously damaged. I also have add-on construction and I am now very afraid of it.”

Davit Avaliani, deputy head of the supervision department within the Tbilisi City Hall, stated that thousands of similar on-built constructions are in Tbilisi. Thus, it is difficult to control all of them.

“At that time everybody was doing these constructions in their houses. Non-professional builders also performed construction of these on-built balconies. In this case nobody cared about legality and following construction rules and engineering standards.”

Population claims that control of these constructions should be more severe. However, Davit Avaliani said that the control cannot be more restricted than it is at this time.

“We do not allow new constructions. As for old ones that were built in 1990s it is difficult to control and test them. Those who came together and collaborated in such projects should accept the responsibility for what problem they face. They should now apply to governmental or private organizations that will assess the sustainability of the building for structural integrity.  After that, with the co-funding of the City Hall, the construction must be either be reinforced or dismantled.”

“It is difficult for the City Hall to start testing all these add-on constructions because they are private properties. In order to being testing the owners should agree to it.”

Recently, when based on the president’s resolution the properties were mass legalized. Consequently, such kinds of construction activities were also legalized. However, Avaliani stated that the owner should have provided official document on the sustainability of the building to be legalized. The construction could be conducted only if it does not threaten the lives of the inhabitants.

Expert’s conclusion on the reason for the deconstruction of the part of residential building # 63 is not yet available. Davit Avaliani stated that it is suspected that the reason was not properly following building process. Besides that the add-on was burdened with the added weight of furniture and residents over the years. 

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