Photos that reveal North Korea's shocking construction methods

Joins show different consistencies of concrete, risking fractures along batch-lines could appear.

"The pictures which purport to be of [a] high rise block in North Korea are truly shocking," said Professor John Nolan, the former President of the London-based Institution of Structural Engineers.

He pointed to the building's misaligned windows and flimsy steel rebar. "Quality control appears to be an alien concept," he said. "If this is a genuine example of the general standard of high rise construction in North Korea, it is no surprise to me that the [recent] collapse occurred and there is a serious risk that it will not be an isolated incident."

Primitive hoists for transporting concrete

Slab edges being cast after main wall casting, with no reinforcing bar evident

The complex, which opened in June 2012, is made up of three 47-floor buildings and 15 buildings of between 20 and 36 floors. Its rapid construction surprised many observers, who wondered how North Korea had achieved the feat without any modern equipments and with limited access to reinforced steel.

Historical satellite images also suggest the complex was built at roughly the same time as the 23-floor building that collapsed because of "slipshod" construction.

Steelwork appears flimsy and incapable of sustaining structure, lack of caging visible. Usually steel bars should appear upright, vertical, consistent and thick

A second structural engineer, who asked not to be named, said the steel rebar used in the complex are too flimsy for such a tall structure and could endanger its structural integrity. He added that the formwork moulds used to pour the concrete walls appeared badly made and variable in quality.

He also noted that concrete was mixed at the site by hand and with limited quality control, then poured by hand into the moulds.

Excerpt from:
Photos that reveal North Korea's shocking construction methods