It seems incredible that a high rise building in the middle of the Brisbane CBD is still delivering a risk of death to the public - eleven years after construction ended.
Since 1990, over two hundred of it's windows has parted from the building and crashed onto the street below. It seems that this is caused by a manufacturing fault which has introduced an impurity into the glass.
This week, another window came loose from the 23'rd floor - and by sheer good luck nobody died or was seriously injured. What seems even more amazing is the nonchalance with which the government of Queensland and the Brisbane city council is treating this menace.
In 2007 the council issued a safety order, demanding that the building be made safe. In 2008 the owners constructed a footpath canopy to give protection from glass falling from above.
This seems to rely on the assumption that glass will only fall on days without wind - and that on every occasion it will drop directly onto the ground below. Any sheet material is unpredictable. It is quite likely to " glide " long distances - and act as a guillotine if it hits cars or people on the opposite side of the street.
This building houses Commonwealth government offices and is a major construction in the Brisbane CBD. It is unforgiveable that faulty building material is still being tolerated eleven years later - and the entire area of windows has not been ordered to be replaced to remove the danger.
Whoever has the insurance risks on that building is playing Russian roulette with their bottom line !
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