EUPHORIA GOLF ESTATE & HYDRO

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING VISUAL ASSESSMENT REPORT

APRIL 2016

Prepared for : Prepared by:

TKDS Consulting FIJ PROJECTS (PTY) LTD

56 Thembi Place CONSULTING ENGINEERS

Calderwood Road Suite 141, P. Bag X5

Lonehill Strubensvalley

2062 1735

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

FIJ PROJECTS (PTY) LTD conducted a visual assessment of the civil and structural
infrastructure of the Euphoria Golf Estate & Hydro’s main building and the guest houses
in Modimolle, Limpopo, in March 2016. The assessment included unstructured interviews
with the facilities manager in a bid to find out if at all they experience any issues in their
day to day usage of the facilities.

1.2 Objectives

The purpose of assessment is to establish and document the findings on the civil and
structural infrastructure of these main building. The Condition Assessment Report will be
used to inform the client on the status quo and deduce any issues that may need
immediate attention, as visually assessed.

1.3 General Information

Euphoria Golf Estate & Hydro is 2 hours’ drive from Johannesburg.

Buildings Description: The main building or reception structure is a combination of

concrete beams and columns structural frame and brickwork with a timber truss roof
covered with slate. The lodge structures are double storey and are a combination of load
bearing brickwork and cast insitu slabs with timber trusses covered with roof tiles.

Roads and General Area Description: The road network within the facility is
a combination of bitumen surfaced roads with interlocking paving blocks in parking areas
and walk ways. The building platform depicts it was significantly a cut into the natural
ground level and the eastern side is not retained.

The terrain is gently sloping to the west and the buildings were constructed on a platform
showing evidence of a cut and fill to the earthworks.

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2 DESIGN INFORMATION

Civil and structural “As-built” design drawings were not made available to the team. These
drawings are required to provide information that is critical to make informed conclusions
on the design parameters that were considered during design stage.

2.1 Civil Engineering Design Aspect.

The site slopes adequately to prevent surface stormwater from ponding. No information
regarding the geotechnical conditions of the soil was made available.

Also worth noting is that should the civils drawings have been available, information
regarding the sewer lines, portable water, surface stormwater and subsoil drainage
networks would have been analysed to a greater depth.

2.2 Structural Engineering Design Aspect.

For the main reception building, the structural design scheme implemented was a
combination of concrete structural beams and columns, cladded and partitioned with
brickwork. The roof is of slate on timber trusses.
The building is mainly 2 storeys, with the mid-section being triple storey, used as office
space and a boardroom facility. This is a critical area as the current challenges are
revolving around this section which is exhibiting signs of severe structural distress.

It is understood that a contractor was appointed in the recent past to conduct an exercise
of inducing expansion joints through the slab to the southern or back patio, along two
distinctive areas. This has assisted significantly in offering the movement with a path of
least resistance.

This building is exhibiting signs of severe structural distress and as such, the extent of the
defects will be discussed in more detail in this report.

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3 FINDINGS

3.1 Main Reception Building

The area boxed in the figure below depicts the critically affected area to the building.
Severe structural cracks running from the front to the back are evident in this area on the
ground, first and second floors.

Figure 1 & 2: Main reception building critical area – cracks are attributed to
foundation settlement

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Settlement is the downward movement of a building (or building components) to a point
below its original position. Foundation settlement is usually the result of the shifting or
compaction of the underlying soil, often due to construction on non-virgin (previously
disturbed) soil or backfill or changes in soil conditions and moisture content.

In severe cases of foundation movement, operational problems with windows and doors
may become apparent. This is common to this structure. Plumbing lines or mechanical
equipment can also be affected. Although every situation can be treated differently, a
crack is generally considered to be of a structural nature when it approaches or exceeds
5mm in width. Smaller cracks may also represent a concern, particularly if there are
multiple cracks; however they may be shrinkage cracks, which rarely warrant concern. On
the other hand, new or enlarging cracks in an existing structure are more likely an
indication of a potentially serious structural issue.

Theoretically, an opening cut in any wall is a weak point, so signs of foundation settlement
often show up around door and window openings located above settlement areas. Cracks
extend from the corners above doors and windows. Doors may separate from the framing
or exterior finish. Other signs of foundation settlement include sticking, jamming doors and
windows and locks that stop working.

Improper construction methods or design deficiencies, alone or in conjunction with other

conditions, account for many forms of foundation movement. Building on soil with voids or
on fill soil that has not been properly compacted will almost always result in foundation
movement. Other cases of settlement are caused by a contractor over-excavating for the
foundation footing and then improperly backfilling.

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Figure 2 & 3: Cracks on walls in the entrance foyer

The pictures above show significant cracking to the walls in the entrance foyer or reception
area. This area lies in the three storey mid-section of the building as described above.

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Figure 4 & 5: Cracks on the floor and walls to the offices behind the reception area

There is a characteristic and systematic crack running through the floors and walls from
front to the back of the building in the offices behind the reception area. The cracks are
deeply structural in nature which can be interpreted as being the result of significant
movement to the building.
In one area, form was sprayed along the crack to avoid seeing through from the first floor
to the ground floor where ladies’ toilets are located. Such a crack causes a constant scare
to the office users.
This crack line was an ideal place to run through an expansion joint during design and
construction. This joint would have offered the building a path of least resistance to allow
for movement.

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Figure 6: Crack to the roof support system

The same crack described above as running through the floor and wall is seen in the
picture above as extending to the roof support structure. In this picture, a structural steel
beam used to support timber trusses is completely detached from the wall.

Figure 7: Continuous crack through the floor and brickwork.

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Figure 8 & 9: Jamming doors – doors do not close anymore such that the locking
system had to be improvised to ensure safety.

Figure 10: Cracks in the kitchen floor

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Figure 11 & 12: Cracks from the first floor are visibly transferred to the foundation
and ground floor through walls and columns as shown above.

Figure 13: Characteristic horizontal and vertical cracks in the boiler room on the
ground floor.

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Figure 14: The link between the cable car room and the main building is not roofed
and is not waterproofed.

Figure 15: Severe water leaks and damp walls in the laundry room. This is a result
of the walkway which is not roofed and or waterproofed.

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Other major concerns to the main building are:
 Cracks in the floor
 Blocked gutters – most of the gutters are embedded in the wall system. Once they
get blocked, water finds its way through the walls, causing damp, aesthetic
distortion and ultimately weakening the structure.
 Damaged roof tiles – some roof tiles are damaged, causing leaks and damaging
the ceilings. Roof leaks and unwarranted water ingress into buildings is a major
hazard to the electrical wiring within a building. These can cause fire.
 Standing water – although the ground around the main building is adequately
slopped, some areas around had standing water which is supposed to be draining
to avoid seepage through the foundation structures.

3.2 Lodge Buildings

The lodge structures are double storey buildings, with a structural scheme of concrete
beams and columns together with load bearing brickwork, a great likelihood of precast
slabs and roof tiles on timber trusses.

Figure 16: Crack through the ceiling of lodge 1.

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Figure 17 & 18: Blocked drains causing water leak through the columns

The buildings are generally well maintained and do not show excessive signs of structural
distress.

3.3 Spa Buildings

The spar buildings are single storey structures of load bearing brickwork and roof tiles
supported by timber trusses.
The buildings are structurally in a good state save for a few broken roof tiles which have
to be attended to.

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4 RECOMMENDATIONS

The below are recommended:

4.1 Geotechnical Investigations.

For this exercise of visual assessment, no geotechnical investigation was carried out to
determine the soil and foundation conditions of the buildings.
However, in order to develop an informed design decision, geotechnical investigations
WILL BE REQUIRED to determine the founding conditions of the building, soil properties
and bearing capacity – a preliminary quote for such a service is attached. The results of
the soil investigations will assist in developing an informed design decision which will be
recommended at detailed design stage.

A geological investigation is to be conducted by an accredited laboratory. The exercise

will seek to address the following;
- The geology and soil profiles
- Indicative concrete strength
- Geohydrology, and
- Foundation conditions and recommendations.

Test pits will be randomly dug by hand, the soil profiles described and the disturbed
samples will be taken for foundation indicator and CBR tests, Dynamic Cone
Penetrometer, Relative Density tests, together with concrete core tests. The outcomes
and report from the geological engineer will inform the remedial action to be done, and
underpinning is a common solution to buildings exhibiting structural defects as these from
the main reception building.

Other recommendations are:

 As – built drawings are to be obtained if possible. These will inform on the design
decisions made at construction stage, especially pertaining to subsoil drainage.
 The walkway to the cable car is to be roofed and walls to the laundry room
rehabilitated.
 Doors will have to be removed and shaved to allow proper closing.

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  Blocked drains are to be fixed and or replaced.
 It is not advisable to fix cracks at this stage without fully understanding the cause
thereof hence it is recommended that these be left as they are until tests are
conducted.

5 CONCLUSION

Euphoria buildings are prestigious buildings with some structural defects. These defects
are to be attended to in time to harness any further deterioration and the discomfort
caused. The main issue to be addressed on the main reception building is the foundation
problem. From the visual inspection done, foundation settlement is the root cause to the
structural distress that the building is experiencing. However, this observation is to be
confirmed from further tests to be done by an accredited laboratory.

Report by

………………………………………………….
For and on behalf of FIJ Projects (Pty) Ltd

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