The municipal secretary of Infrastructure and Works, Marcos Monteiro, said this Saturday, 16, that the building affected by a fire in the region of Rua 25 de Março is not at risk of “immediate rupture or without warning”. The property located in the center of São Paulo began to go through the preparatory work for demolition this morning, such as the placement of sidings and preparation of the construction site.
City Hall announced that it will reopen most businesses (with the exception of two stores adjacent to the building) and traffic in almost the entire region once the siding installation is complete. On Comendador Abdo Schahin Street, circulation will be restricted to authorized loading and unloading vehicles and pedestrians. The section between numbers 70 and 102 of the road will remain closed. Street vendors will also be able to return, with the exception of the perimeter around the building.
“The inspection was quite good. We had a doubt as to which floor we would be able to reach, depending on temperature and gases. The structure is already quite cooled and there is not so much concentration of gases”, said the secretary to the press. “We managed to get to the 10th floor and confirm everything that we initially detected in the survey on Thursday, with the drones.”
According to the secretary, the work now depends on the release of the expertise of the Scientific Police. After, initially, a cleaning will be done, to remove debris (avoiding the risk of falls). “To guarantee the minimum safety of the workers”, he justified. Outside, a veil and trays will be placed so that tablets and other materials do not fall into the path.
He admitted that there are still risks of one-off falling debris. “For this reason, we are going to reduce the intervention area, but the stores next door will have to remain closed.”
like the Estadão reported, the demolition will not be mechanized, which would generate greater “disorders”, according to the secretary. The procedure will take place inside, with the use of smaller equipment, such as hammers. There is still no estimate of the cost of the procedure.
“Everyone agrees that there is total security at work,” said the secretary. “It’s all controlled, all monitored. We have the best builders supporting us. We are safe. So much so that we should already proceed with a greater liberation of the area, little by little.”
Monteiro also stated that the shopkeepers will be authorized in the coming days, after the clearance by the expert and the finding of a “slightly greater security”, to enter the affected building. According to him, all the sets at the back were compromised, except for those located on the first floor (where there is a kitchen) and part of the establishments on the ground floor. The building had 79 commercial rooms, where stores, offices and warehouses operated.
The work plan for the demolition of the building is being prepared, according to the City Hall. “After cleaning the site (removal of all material left over from the fire) and shoring all floors, technical teams will be able to analyze “in loco” the condition of the structural elements (beams, pillars and slabs). Based on the analysis of the collected data, the demolition schedule will be defined. Management has highlighted that one of the priorities is to “return normality” to the region safely.
Gallery: See how the building looked after the fire on March 25
Source: CNN Brasil
