housecrash in china

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further infos: http://wwweng.uwyo.edu/classes/fa2009/ce4630/china_apartment_tilt.pdf

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-40638820090627 Nearly completed high-rise collapses in Shanghai Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:59am IST HONG KONG (Reuters) - A 13-storey residential building under construction in Shanghai collapsed on Saturday, killing one worker and highlighting the dangers of shoddy building in fast-urbanising China. The building, in the outskirts of the city, collapsed at around 6 a.m. (2200 GMT), with one construction worker killed, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The block of high-rise residential flats was shown toppled onto its side in a muddy construction site, in footage from Hong Kong's Cable Television. Exposed pilings stood in the remains of the building's foundations. It appeared to be almost complete with fitted windows and a finished, tiled facade. Other similar-looking blocks in the same property development were still standing nearby. Shoddy construction and the use of sub-standard materials is a concern in China's construction sector as the country scrambles to build out cities and finish massive infrastructure projects to keep pace with fast economic growth. Construction-related accidents last year included the collapse of a steel arch on a new railway bridge, which killed at least seven and a crane which fell on a kindergarten killing five. The collapse of dozens of schools during last year's Sichuan earthquake, sometimes when buildings around them withstood the tremor, also led to a wave of public outrage about corrupt officials and construction firms.