How to handle distressed buildings – Dons

A professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Lagos, Funso Falade, has condemned the act of demolishing distressed buildings without getting professionals to ascertain the cause of the distress.

Falade said this at the public presentation of his 111-page book entitled: ‘Strengthening of distressed buildings’, which was organised to mark his 60th birthday.

According to him, building collapse has become frequent in parts of the country in recent times, and needs urgent attention.

A professor of Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Joseph Afolayan, while reviewing the book, said Falade intended to show that distressed buildings were still habitable after adequate implementation of outcomes of investigations into why they collapsed.

He explained that the book sought to change the current practice whereby collapsed structures were demolished without any probe or investigation.

Afolayan described the seven-chapter book as timely, noting that it would allay the fears of those who deserted distressed buildings.

He said, “Collapse of buildings has become a recurrent issue in Nigeria and this book by Funso Falade is a valuable and timely reference. In Nigeria, very little or no attention is given to maintenance of constructed facilities and issues of distress in buildings are only captioned as an eyesore.

“The goal of the author is to unequivocally, with sound technical presentation, maintain that distressed buildings can still be safe for habitation after thorough investigation and appropriate remedial works by certified structural engineers.”

Afolayan noted that the book would be of immense benefit to professionals and researchers in the field of health monitoring and control of distressed buildings, adding that those who were faced with the economic challenge of demolishing and rebuilding collapsed structures would find information in the book very attractive.

“It can be said that the book has been written as a product of years of experience in structural engineering and particularly in the construction industry. I, therefore, agree with the author that the concept of demolition of distressed buildings without proper investigation and understanding of the problems will be counter-productive and a waste of resources,” he said.