A reader sent me a picture they took yesterday in Al Riggae in which an excavator that was demolishing a building from the roof down ended up falling through the building. No idea what happened to the operator of the excavator.
Demolishing buildings by placing an excavator on the roof is a common method in Kuwait and it obviously isn’t safe. But, there doesn’t seem to be a law against it and I’m sure the operators aren’t paid much to risk their lives. Below is a picture I had previously taken of an excavator demolishing a building from the roof just to give you a clearer idea of what I’m talking about.
Thanks Riba
16 replies on “Excavator crashes through roof”
Until companies and the people who witness these kinds of things but stay quiet realize that these are people they will be treated like the cogs in the money making machine that they are. OSHA obviously isn’t a concern even though it’s practices and standards are utilized and enforced pretty much everywhere else on earth. But if people keep doing it doesn’t matter. After all they are just Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshi and Phillipino right? I mean what value does their life actually have?
I can’t speak for the companies and their safety levels. From an outsiders perspective I can’t think of an alternative other than manually doing the demolition which is more dangerous and have higher health hazards for more people, is much slower and higher cost. Or by explosives which can have dangerous knock on effects for neighbouring buildings and infrastructure.
Ofcourse the building would be capable of holding up an excavator if the excavator weight is not more than the designed load for the building. If the roof failed given the load then it was either that the roof was weaker than anticipated or that while demolishing the excavator took out a critical beam or column and failed to compensate for the mistake. The easiest correction would be routine inspection during demolition on an ongoing basis.
That being said I too hope that the operator has survived without major injuries.
There are alternatives obviously since placing an excavator on a building is not something that is practiced in first world countries.
Here is one link with examples
https://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/information-guidance/all-guidance-items/best-practice-guidelines-for-demolition-in-new-zealand/methods-of-demolition
A brief Google search gave me this article.
https://weburbanist.com/2012/01/08/high-anxiety-rooftop-excavators-tear-down-from-up-top/
It seems it is a common enough practice in China. Also the article notes that they do the same in Australia also but with lighter excavators and the image shows steel support beams being used to ensure safety. Which is probably the correct method of doing this type of demolition.
@Vin,
Exactly.
And based on Kuwait building regulations (which plays it realllly safe when designing the building) the weight of the excavator is not an issue once its on top of the building.
I haven’t seen this practice elsewhere. Most commonly explosives are being used, but I can only imagine a disaster we would be looking at if it was to be used in Kuwait. 🙂 Then again, I can see why explosives might not be the best idea on a sandy soil.
Using an excavator on top of a building to be torn down is like sawing the branch you are sitting on.
You do realize that a significant amount of construction workers in Kuwait are Egyptians?
What value of life does an Egyptian have? A LOT
Kuwait is a 3rd world country located in the Middle East. It’s only normal that these unsafe practices/standards are occurring in Kuwait.
Poor regulation in construction/demolition are common throughout the Middle East and Third World, this problem isn’t just limited to Kuwait
It is very odd that you’re claiming safety regulations are enforced everywhere else on earth, except Kuwait.
Qatar and UAE have a much higher percentage of workers dying in construction sites and demolition sites than Kuwait does. Qatar and UAE have an higher death rate among construction workers
blah blah blah…
Stop comparing us with other countries in the world. We are our own case… and so we have our own solutions to our own problems.
They take down buildings this way because this way you have one or two lives at risk. Other options could have dozens of lives at risk. So they choose to do it this way as it is the one with least risks.
There are risks everywhere. And if you’re in construction work field you know you’re risking your life every morning you go to work. Though I personally would argue that in Kuwait regardless what kind of work you do, you’re already risking your life by simply getting in your car and driving to work.
If you bothered to click any of the links here or if you took 2 seconds to google it you would know there are much safer options hence why no first world country demolishes a building like this.
Comparison is how we find better ways of doing things. Otherwise you might as well stay in the stone age.
Demolition is a very complicated task, and requires careful planning. I have never seen anything that shows this in Kuwait.
Unfortunately, this method seems to be the most practical to use in Kuwait from the others:
Explosive: bad for closely packed buildings, and inhabited areas
High Arm: Basically a vary large crane that will stay on the ground, needs large spaces to park.
Wrecking ball: needs large space, and needs skills to control that ball, plus high risk if something goes wrong.
selective demolition: my preferred method. taking apart the building methodically and slowly while recycling what can be recycled. But takes time and can be more expensive to do.
This is now going to be discussed in Parliament and after 3 years there will be one outcome: “That expat controlling the excavator should be deported!”
People who say Explosives are dangerous may not have seen how its done in other countries. Just check out the net/ youtube videos. One could say the expertise is not available here. True, but people can always try to learn.
Can you imagine what would happen the first time they tried a explosion demolition? Do you really think they will bring in properly trained people to do that? Nope.
I can imagine a large crater in the ground (since the ground is extremely soft), plus as a bonus any buildings around you are also now structurally compromised, making them easier to demolish.
Plus don’t forget all the underground pipes, cables etc that would be blown to smithereens (assuming they don’t do it correctly).
You think the Internet cable cut is bad? At least that one gets fixed quickly. Can you just imagine how long it will take it sorted out in Kuwait?
By the way, I have also seen this kind of demolition being done in Saudi Arabia, in densely populated areas; however one thing I did see there that I don’t see here is that they constantly spray water to prevent coating everything around in a fine layer of dust and whatever other toxic materials were used to make the building.
the guys doing construction next to my building – no hard hats, no proper protective gear – just given tools and told to make it happen – on a salary of peanu
Dry Cleaning facilities here still use a solvent called PERC which is toxic not just to workers but the buildings adjacent to all dry cleaners.
It’s Kuwait … nothing will be done
When the guy driving the excavator is a de-facto slave, it’s no big deal.