Tests show poor-quality steel used in collapsed SAO building

About ten percent of the steel bars used in the construction of the State Audit Office (SAO) building, which collapsed in last Friday’s earthquake, have been found to be substandard, revealed Thitipat Chotedechachainan, head of the industry minister’s working committee.

Samples of the steel bars, collected from the collapse site, were sent for testing by the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand, closely observed by representatives from the Engineering Institute of Thailand and the National Metal and Materials Technology Centre (MTEC).

Twenty samples of the deformed rebar, of 12-32mm and two 24mm bars, were tested in three steps.

The tests showed that the 20mm deformed bars and the 32mm round bars were substandard, but their brand names could not be identified, said Thitipat.

She also said that the results of the tests will be referred to the Thailand Industrial Standards Institute (TISI)

The contract for the construction of the new Bt2.1 billion SAO building was awarded to a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development Corp (ITD) and China Railway No 10 (Thailand) Company, a Chinese state enterprise.