A Department of Transportation and Works spokesperson told VOCM on Thursday, November 5, 2015
that “the walls within Waterford Valley High that need further supports are
walls between classrooms, and says there are no issues on the walls that
provide the main structural integrity of the building.” (underline added)
The
Spokesperson was commenting on Uncle Gnarley Blog’s exposure of a cover up of
structural deficiencies in a second St. John’s school; this time the new
Waterford Valley High.
He says that if the walls between the classrooms “need further supports”, as the Government has now acknowledged ,and evening work activities at the school confirm, without those supports the walls can collapse.
Both TW and NLESD give the impression the missing structural members are unimportant. They seem to have, already, forgotten the Roncalli wall collapse. The walls at Waterford Valley High are also constructed of concrete block.
_______________________________________________________________
Related to this Post:
_______________________________________________________________
The engineer I consulted states: “There is no grey here; either the walls conform
to National Building Code standards or they don’t.” He says “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.”
The Government's own revelations have given focus to a second, and related, issue.
The
Transportation and Works Department told VOCM: “It was determined there was
no risk to staff and students, and that remedial work could be completed after
occupancy.”
The spokesperson did not identify the Structural Engineer
or release a copy of that the documentation signed by that engineer confirming Waterford Valley High School is structurally ready for occupancy.
Today, I am
calling for the immediate release, to the public, of that Certificate.
Its release will help allay public concern over questions of public
safety which have been exposed by Uncle Gnarley Blog.
