Secure control room, warns ASA
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Flood barriers around high-rises may fail to prevent inundation
More than 20,000 high-rise buildings in Bangkok are at risk of being put out of action by flooding if they have not protected their control rooms, warns the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage (ASA).
“A survey by the association found high-rise buildings in Bangkok that had not secured their control rooms but merely set up protective systems around the buildings,” said ASA president Thaweejit Chandrasakha.
He added that in a flood higher than 50 centimetres, buildings might be at risk, even if flood barriers had been built. And it is difficult to make such buildings more secure now because of a shortage of materials.
If a building’s control room is flooded, it will not be able to operate and it will take two months to repair the system, he said.
Thaweejit added that in particular, building owners had to protect their ventilation controls and electricity systems from the flooding.
“I’ve seen that most buildings are just protected by sandbag walls. But they don’t protect their control rooms. If the control system is destroyed by flooding, it will be not able to operate and it will need long time to repair, costing at least Bt1 million, depending to size of the building.”
He added that Bangkok could face flooding for more than two weeks. That means building owners have protect their control rooms so as to keep them operating as long as the flooding persists.
Those who want suggestions about protecting their building systems can contract [email protected], Thaweejit said.
