Luckily, no one was hurt by the 12m steel structure when it collapsed at the Tengah BTO construction site.
A 12m-tall steel structure collapsed onto an unoccupied temporary workers’ quarters at a construction site in Tengah, reported The Straits Times (ST).
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the incident happened on a piece of land located next to a proposed Housing and Development Board (HDB) development bordered by Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Boulevard Plantation Crescent.
The plot of land where the structure fell was a standalone site for worker’s quarters, pre-fabrication work and storage; and was not part of the Tengah Build-To-Order (BTO) site.
No one was injured since the temporary quarters are yet to be occupied.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force revealed that it received a call for assistance to a construction site near the junction of Bukit Batok Road and Tengah Drive at around 2.05pm. However, it shared that no assistance was needed in the end.
MOM noted that all works at the site had been put to a stop by HDB, with all affected areas cordoned off while the occupier of the site develops a recovery plan.
MOM is working with HDB to establish the cause of the incident.
Arjun Nair, a safety officer with experience in construction, said several factors, including the heavy rain, may have contributed to the collapse of the steel structure.
“It might be a design issue,” he said, as quoted by ST.
However, it was fortunate that the incident occurred during the downpour, said Nair.
“Usually when it is raining, most workers at construction sites stop work and take shelter. If it was not raining, there’s a high chance some workers might have been injured,” he said.
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Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg
