WHEN geologist Leslie Barker told the Coroner’s Court that vibrations from construction equipment would have to be of such a great magnitude in order to cause a cave to collapse, he was basing his assertion on a report written by an engineering firm that had worked on the construction site behind the collapsed cave at Arch Cot, Brittons Hill, St Michael.
Barker told the court last Monday during an inquest into the collapse of the cave that he had read in the report that the vibrations from a construction site were not of the intensity that could have caused the cave to collapse.
That report, he said, was prepared by the firm Mahy, Ridley & Hazzard – the same engineers who were contracted by Dr Jerry Emtage to work on the offices he was building when the cave collapsed.
Barker made the revelation during intense questioning by attorney-at-law David Comissiong, who is representing the interests of the Codrington family.
Comissiong had told the geologist that he was not qualified to make the assertion that the vibration from the heavy equipment being used on the construction site could not have caused the cave to collapse and he further put it to him that there was extensive literature which showed that vibrations had caused the collapse of caves and sinkholes.
Barker responded: “As far as my knowledge tells me it would depend on the intensity of the vibrations, and as far as I am aware the intensity used at this particular site was nowhere near that intensity”.
He added that if the vibrations had caused the cave to collapse such a collapse would have been “instantaneous” and not two weeks after construction work had ceased on the site.
When Comissiong asked Barker if he was qualified to give an opinion on that, the geologist stated that he had recently read a document on that matter which was prepared by Mahy, Ridley & Hazzard. “I read the document in preparation for this,” he stated.
That document, The Arch Cot Collapse And Chelston Court Project: A Brief Technical Report On The Relevant Issues, was prepared by the engineering firm and distributed to the court only on Monday. Engineer Gregory Hazzard is to be questioned on the report next week.
Comissiong, who shook his head at Barker’s response, proceeded to ask him: “If vibrations can cause the immediate collapse of a structure, isn’t it possible that vibrations can cause a weakening of the structure?”
“I suppose that is possible, but it depends on the intensity,” Barker responded.
Continuing, Comissiong asked Barker if he had conducted any experiments with the use of construction equipment to determine the intensity of the vibrations that were coming from the construction site. Barker admitted he had not.
And he reluctantly agreed with the attorney that it was possible that a combination of the vibrations and karstification could have caused the cave to collapse.
The Coroner’s Court is investigating the death of the Codrington family when their apartment building collapsed into a cave beneath it on August 26, 2007.
