Super Typhoon Yagi - A challenging test of the quality of apartment buildings

Super Typhoon Yagi made landfall in Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and Hanoi with strong winds and heavy rain, causing many seemingly solid high-rise buildings and apartments to have their glass walls blown off, glass shattered, or houses flooded with water... Super Typhoon Yagi is a severe test for the quality of current construction projects.

Apartment building devastated by storm

Spending billions of dong to own an apartment, everyone hopes that it will be a safe home, a place where the storm stops at the door. However, many households are confused about their choice of place to live after witnessing the devastation caused by super typhoon Yagi .

In Hanoi and Quang Ninh , the glass doors of many apartment buildings were blown away and shattered by the wind, leaving residents in shock. “ Every time there was a strong wind, the glass walls shook and shook as if they were about to fall off the door. I have never felt so scared, ” said Ms. Hanh Dung, who currently lives in an apartment building in Quang Ninh.

Many apartment buildings' glass was blown away and shattered, causing unsafe conditions for residents (Source: Social Network)

According to Ms. Thu Phuong, living on the 15th floor of an apartment building in Long Bien district, Hanoi: "There are only me and 3 small children in the house, I thought that staying in the house would be fine, but when the storm hit, the wind howled, causing the windows to shake, water seeped through the cracks, and pieces of plaster ceiling also fell off in pieces . Luckily, all 4 of us were okay. That night, I had to go to my neighbor's house to take shelter, anxiously waiting for the storm to pass."

Residents in many apartment buildings are struggling to find ways to prevent water from entering their homes through door cracks.

Not only apartments, storms also damaged many buildings, offices and hotels in many localities. In Quang Ninh, many high-end hotels had their glass broken by strong winds, and even some buildings had their glass walls collapsed by the storm.

Along with overcoming the severe consequences left by Typhoon Yagi, perhaps it is time to seriously question the quality of apartment buildings, when a house that should be a safe shelter suddenly becomes a place of anxiety.

Test for Construction Quality

Super Typhoon Yagi is truly a severe test for the quality of apartment buildings and high-rise buildings. Construction experts say that one of the reasons for the phenomenon of glass doors being blown away in apartment buildings during the super typhoon is due to the structural design, quality of glass doors and construction work. Any building or construction has a load-bearing structure and a covering structure. The structural design unit must calculate the wind pressure, how thick the glass must be, how many layers of glass, and what the glass structure is like. In particular, the wall or door frame must be connected to the load-bearing structure, the surrounding covering structure... to ensure safety.

The exterior glass systems of some buildings were almost undamaged under the influence of super typhoon Yagi (Photo: Diamond Crown Hai Phong Project)

In Hai Phong - one of the localities heavily affected by the super typhoon, many people were surprised that the apartment building with a height of over 150m with 39 floors at the windy intersection of Le Hong Phong - Nguyen Binh Khiem with a full glass facade was not severely damaged.

“My family has just moved to the Diamond Crown Hai Phong tower not long ago. When I heard about super typhoon Yagi, I was really worried. The building is new and I didn’t know about its quality. When the storm passed, I saw the glass facade of an agency building opposite collapse, and I was extremely scared. But luckily, it is still safe and sturdy, with only a few houses having broken glass due to the impact. This storm is truly a test for the quality of the apartments,” said Do Van Binh, a resident here.

Despite being directly hit by the storm, some projects such as Diamond Crown Hai Phong in Hai Phong; Hanoi Aqua Central, Vinhomes Metropolis in Hanoi... were less affected, with no casualties and material damage that was insignificant compared to the general situation.

Explaining this, a representative of Coteccons said: “When designing and constructing, many projects are carefully calculated in terms of structure and materials to ensure safety in risky situations such as natural disasters and floods. For example, a project we constructed such as Diamond Crown Hai Phong with a sturdy Diagrid system helps the project withstand wind loads well, ensuring safety in case of incidents. The entire diagrid column system is planned for construction using BIM technology to help calculate the construction steps to ensure accuracy, as well as the quality of the project to help the building safely pass the "tests".

The representative of the investor DOJILAND also shared that at Diamond Crown Hai Phong, the exterior façade glass system is a tempered glass box system coated with Low E, with a high-tech frame system, combined with a sturdy Diagrid structure, which helps increase the load-bearing capacity and receive wind pressure of the project, even in the eye of the highest-level storm.

According to experts, a storm may not be the criterion to evaluate the quality of all apartments. However, Typhoon Yagi is also a reminder and warning about the current construction quality. If there are more bright spots after each natural disaster, it is a good thing.

Therefore, it is necessary to review and re-examine all existing apartment buildings, ensuring construction quality to ensure the safety of people's lives and to give people absolute peace of mind that the storm will stop behind the door.

Source