Capitol is structurally sound

“Capitol is structurally sound.”

This was the assurance of Engr. Florentino Sanchez of RS Caparos and Associates, capitol design engineer during his ocular inspection around the new capitol building.

The inspection came after the Provincial Engineer's Office (PEO) noticed some cracks at the capitol's walls following the earthquake with magnitude of 4.5 that shook the building few days ago.

Sanchez said they discovered that most of the cracks occurred on pre-cast materials, on the floor and wall tiles are all superficial.

Therefore, he said, there is no damage on the structure of the building as there was no damage on beams, columns and slobs, which are all structural components of the building.

In ground and second floors, a minor snaps on walls were seen; minor damage on floor tiles in one of the toilets in third floor; no damage was noticed in fourth floor; a break on drop wall and ceiling at Vice Governor Armada's conference hall in fifth floor; and cracks on pre-cast molding in sixth floor.

The evaluation made by Sanchez served as validation to the findings of PEO personnel made earlier.

Estimated cost to repair the damage is yet to be submitted by PEO to Office of Governor for appropriation.

Together with Sanchez was Architect Zeigward Soriano of WV Coscouella and Associates. (Capitol News)