Contractors of a skyscraper in Nairobi's Parklands on Tuesday, March 14, moved to fix its pillars after photos of the construction site went viral on social media.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, one of the whistleblowers - who raised the concerns indicated that the contractor had brought in a structural engineer to rectify the matter.
Concern had been raised over the spacing of the steel bars used to build the pillars.
"I have been informed that the corrections are going on and that the structural engineer has been reinstated," the whistleblower stated.
Photos of the site emerged on social media on Monday, March 13. The pictures elicited debate as a number of Kenyans questioned whether the construction was following the industry standards.
The contractors had settled on using the D16 steel bar for the pillars. However, they were placed close to each other with many wondering whether they were placed correctly.
Additionally, the pillars were smaller than ordinary pillars. This caused many to raise questions about whether the concrete added on the pillars would be enough.
"This isn't over-reinforcement but choosing the wrong steel size. A bigger diameter bar should be used to ease the flow of concrete during the pouring," Kenneth Kiraithe stated.
"A bigger rebar diameter would be better though. Shouldn't the lapping be staggered? Especially when using smaller diameter bars?" Muthoka Mutinda wondered.
However, speaking to real estate expert Arnania Ogutu, he noted that there were rules that needed to be followed during the construction of pillars.
In this case, he noted that one needed to look at the structural drawing of the building to determine the weight that would be exerted on the pillars to determine whether they were being done correctly.
"There are rules but they all depend on the weight of the building. One is therefore required to use the drawings of the building and the specifications of the structural engineer," he stated.
Poor workmanship has been blamed for the increase in the number of collapsed buildings.
The National Construction Authority (NCA) urged contractors to involve qualified professionals and materials during the construction.
