Faced with
having to admit “cover-up” at Waterford Valley High, the Department of
Transportation and Works asked the contractor to accelerate installation of the
lateral steel supports which were overlooked during the construction of the
School.
Double
overtime, nearly $100.00 per hour, was the incentive for workers to work longer
hours.
Originally, Government
was prepared to continue to let the School operate until Christmas, even though
the building failed to meet National Building Code standards. The disclosure of this
second “cover-up”, the first occurred at Roncalli, caused the work to be rushed. As a result, the final lateral support was
installed at the end of last week.
When the
phones started to ring, following the Blog Post, a senior NLESD official
was forced to explain the problem.
Parroting Transportation
and Works officials, NLESD told them: “Inspections of our school identified
some walls requiring lateral supports; these are partition walls between
classrooms” (Underline added).
Parents were
supposed to read the word “only” into the phrase "these are partition walls". The NLESD downplayed
the importance of the missing steel supports.
The NLESD spokesperson
did not tell parents that the concrete block walls weigh several tons; that the
purpose of the lateral supports is to prevented them tipping over; that the
construction is very similar to the wall that collapsed at Roncalli School.
The NLESD also
did not tell parents the failure rendered the school “NON-COMPLIANT” under the
National Building Code – and thus, unfit for occupancy.
The
contractor’s failure to complete all the steel structural elements left two
possibilities. Either:
a. The certification by the structural
engineer was improperly issued; or
b. No certificate was issued (i.e. that
officials unilaterally took a decision to open the school without any “sign
off”)
The comments
of the engineer who advised this Blogger bear repeating:
“There is no
grey here; either the walls conform to National Building Code standards or they
don’t….the Code is very precise; the structural members, including those
missing lateral supports, are required to accommodate all the loads which the
design engineer has calculated and on which he would have based the design
specifications. So, someone has made a decision to occupy a sub-standard structure.”
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Related to this Post:
Waterford Valley High School: Another Cover-Up
Waterford Valley High: Release Certificate of Structural Engineer, Now!
__________________________________________________________
Related to this Post:
Waterford Valley High School: Another Cover-Up
Waterford Valley High: Release Certificate of Structural Engineer, Now!
___________________________________________________________
Politicians and bureaucrats hope they have escaped rebuke and an admission of complicity.
They should
not get off so lightly.
Let’s be
clear about two matters:
First, when this
Blog issued a call for the immediate release of the Structural Engineer’s Certification on Friday, November 6, 2015 the demand
could have been met within 5 minutes. NLESD could have, and should have,
attached a copy of the Certification to the email it sent to the parents.
But the
Certification was not produced then, or since.
Second,
while no politician or senior bureaucrat should be excused, the behaviour of
NLESD must be singled out.
The general
public, parents especially, cannot tolerate officials who place their children
at risk.
Political
embarrassment, convenience, stupidity, or cost are never paramount
considerations alongside public safety.
Accordingly,
if the CEO of NLESD cannot provide proof of the structural integrity of
Waterford Valley High School, when the facility opened in September, he should
begin the parade of officials tendering their resignation. Those involved, in the
two government Departments, should follow.
This is a lapse
of judgment that cannot go unpunished.
Children
need educators who have their back.