final-report-of-the-advisory-committee-on-falsework-bragg-report - Flipbook - Page 11
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Falsework Collapses
Historical perspective
The collapse of a major falsework such as that supporting a bridge or a tall building is invariably given
wide publicity and often provides spectacular pictures.
Interest is aroused, not only in those having a professional or personal involvement but in members of
the public at large. The collapses of falsework for the
Loddon Viaduct, the Birling Road Overbridge, the
Danube Bridge at Vienna, the Rhine Bridge at
Koblenz, the bridges in Pasadena and San Bernadino
in California, the Skyline Plaza building in Fairfax
County, Virginia, the Kuwait multi-storey car park
and the Leubas River Bridge at Kempten, Bavaria all
suggested a continuous series of disasters which
required urgent action to prevent a recurrence.
To these major incidents one must add a large number
of smaller ones, many of which did not result in death
or injury though they might have done so. It is, however, necessary to put the spectacular events in perspective by relating them to the number of construction
works which proceeded without accident.
Finding accurate figures poses many difficult questions
which are at present largely unanswered. We would
like to know the number of falsework collapses
occurring in the United Kingdom, preferably over a
period of years, in order that a comparative study
may be made. We need to know the numbers of
falseworks in existence at any one time and the
number of persons employed on such projects as well
as the number who are killed and injured during
collapse. Such information is hard to come by.
Figures of the number of reported accidents, including
fatal accidents, in the construction industry generally
are available .through the reports of HM Chief
Inspectors of Factories. However, while total figures
are given and certain subsidiary classifications are
available, it is not possible to determine with any
degree of accuracy the number of persons whose
injury was received working with falsework. Furthermore unless there is actual injury to persons employed
there is no legal requirement to report a falsework
. failure, however serious or potentially dangerous.
Even then, it is possible that only some 50 % of such
accidents in the construction industry are actually
reported to the Factory Inspectorate.
The statistics of persons employed, published by the
Department of the Environment, while covering a
large number of classes in the construction industry,
do not enable the numbers employed on falsework to
be assessed. No statistics are available on the number
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of construction operations involving falsework - including buildings - at any one time. However, it has
been estimated that some 12,000 jobs involving falsework are in existence at any one moment. It has been
possible to obtain an estimate from the Department
of the Environment of the number of bridges under
construction during the year. These figures are given
below but it should be noted that they neither include
bridges built under Government auspices in Scotland,
nor bridges commissioned by local authorities. Nor
do they collectively give an indication of the total
number of bridges built for the Department of the
Environment in England and Wales because any
bridge which takes more than a calendar year to
construct will be included more than once in the
table position. We are however informed that it is
exceptional for a bridge to be included in the return
for more than two years.
Year
ending
March
1956
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
Approximate number
of bridges
under construction
during the year
70
600
600
500
900
1100
800
900 estd
800 estd
Reporting of failures
It is thus clear that reliable information has not so
far been recorded and made available. Estimates of
falsework failure vary widely. Some authorities believe
that spectacular collapses reveal only the tip of an iceberg and that the total number of all classes of failure
is substantial. Records have bee/ kept by HM Inspectors of Factories of every failure in 'Great Britain
where death or injury has been reported since the
inception of this committee. During 1974 no less than
twenty such falsework failures were recorded. The
failures covered a wide range of construction including commercial and industrial premises, silos,
towers, hotels and reinforced concrete structures as
well as the smaller type of building operation.
Any failure which could have caused injury is important since it indicates an error or weakness which
must be avoided in future. Failures which do not cause
