Structural engineers have assessed and confirmed that Lotis Towers is safe contrary
to earlier media reports.
Minor cracks were last week detected at the 14-storey structure located along Mackinon Street in Nakasero.
Eng. Kenneth Magembe from Armstrong Consulting engineers says among the 21
columns, one column on the 6th floor has minor cracks and in the basement.
Armstrong Consulting Engineers were the structure consultants of the project.
Magambe said after a thorough assessment, him and his team confirmed that the cracks were on the surface, not in the core of structure.
“We assessed the entire building and we found out that it is a single column on the 6th floor and three others in the basement,” he said.
“We are fixing them, then after we shall do a fresh assessment to make sure the
structure is compliant.”
He said the cracks may have been caused by the plaster which didn’t dry well.
Magambe said the contractor was already on site propping up the columns.
“We have already struck the formwork. This new column will be stronger than the old
one,” one of the engineers said.
It has been clarified that the cracks as seen in photos widely circulated on social
media were normal hammer tests by lab technicians from Ministry of Works to figure
out the cause of the plaster cracks on one of the reinforced columns.
“As is the normal routine, MOWTS technicians did some rebound hammer tests just
to figure out the cause of the plaster cracks. They also broke the concrete to reach
the rebars as seen in the pictures circulating on social media,” a statement from the
property managers said.
“No Cause for alarm. The internal core of the columns is still intact and that’s why it
was able to stand the test of time,” Magambe said.
He faulted National Building Review Board (NBRB) for rushing to the social media
without doing a clear assessment of the structure.
“Much as they are the regulators, they should have first found out what went wrong
and a clear structural analysis done,” he said.
This website has further learnt that the wild and nonsense allegations as works of a
competitor.
No Cause for alarm. The internal core of the columns is still intact and that’s why it was able to stand the test of time
Magambe said
With advent of COVID-19 and the struggling economy, the competition for tenants in
Kampala is very stiff, according to realtors.
They said the competitors of Lotis Towers which houses many companies like Cairo
Bank and government offices could trying to take advantage of the incident to
takeaway tenants.
Lotis Towers, since 2018 has been offering the most affluent office space in the
Central business district of Kampala.
The emergency of the likes of Kingdom Kampala has not affected the affluency of the tower.
Leave a Reply