Gold Coast’s Bruce Bishop car park had serious structural defects prior to shocking accident
THE council was warned at least two years before a woman was trapped by a falling concrete slab that its ageing central Surfers Paradise car park had serious structural defects.
Gold Coast
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THE council was warned at least two years before a woman was trapped by a falling concrete slab that its ageing central Surfers Paradise carpark had serious structural defects.
Budget documents show the Gold Coast City Council in 2014-15 was planning “concrete cancer rectification works” with the testing to be conducted “over a number of years” at the Bruce Bishop car park.
The Gold Coast Bulletin is not suggesting concrete cancer contributed to the accident on Wednesday night, only highlighting the carpark’s structural issues.
At a special meeting of the new council in late June, the carpark was mentioned in a report as an “infrastructure risk” because its concrete form had been deteriorating.
Along with about 135 tidal stormwater pipes which were rusting and needed realigning, the car park was rated one of the city’s key risks in terms of replacing council-owned property.
“The Bruce Bishop car park has concrete spalling in parts of its basement levels,” the report said.
“Specialist consultancy services were engaged in 2015-16 that included performing detailed assessments, identifying defects and undertaking remediation works.”
The rectification works were to start in 2016-17, with funding submission of more than $1 million to be made in the budget.
Historians recall the Beach Road end of Surfers Paradise being swamp land until development in the early 1960s, aware the nearby bowling club greens had to be built above road level to prevent flooding.
The parcel of land was gifted to the city in 1938 and the 1600 space car park built in the early 1970s, continuing to operate despite attempts to sell it off for a super-tower development.
Former councillor Lex Bell strongly opposed any moves to sell the site but stakeholders have heard of moves under the new administration to include the car park in assets which could be sold to help fund the cultural centre precinct.
The Bulletin yesterday asked the council about being aware of the car park’s concrete cancer as far back as 2014, including the stairwell where the woman was injured.
But the council declined to respond to questions about whether the funding for works had been ticked off and when repairs would begin.
“Given the incident in the Bruce Bishop carpark is still under investigation, we are unable to respond specifically to your questions,” a council spokesman said.
Experienced builders said the removed slab of concrete was wet and showed signs that the steel reinforcement could have been rusted or not present at all.
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said the car park remained open but the area surrounding the incident had been cordoned off while an investigation continued by Queensland Workplace Health and Safety.
“There’s been a visual inspection this morning. Council is confident that the area of concern is isolated to the stairwell which has been cordoned off,” Cr Gates said.
“Obviously we are very concerned and our thoughts are with the young woman who has been injured and her family.
“There’s an immediate and thorough investigation launched by Queensland Health and Safety.
“We wait for the results from that investigation.”
Tourist may never walk again after slab hits her
AN Italian tourist may never walk again after a large concrete slab fell on her in a Surfers Paradise carpark on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old and her boyfriend were taking a shortcut through the Bruce Bishop carpark about 10.45pm when tragedy struck.
The woman’s 23-year-old boyfriend is believed to have sat or jumped on a concrete wall on the second level of the carpark when it fell to the stairwell below.
The slab pinned the woman to the ground, causing serious spinal injuries.
The two had been on a pub crawl in Surfers Paradise.
Club owners confirmed she had been part of The Hangover Crawl, which visited Sin City Nightclub and Ultra Lounge Bar on Wednesday night.
Emergency services were on the scene within minutes and the woman told paramedics she couldn’t feel her legs.
Acting Senior Operations Supervisor Paul Young said the woman was receiving treatment in a specialised spinal ward.
“We were called to the Bruce Bishop carpark (and) found a 22-year-old female down there that had been hit by a large concrete wall that had come loose,” he said.
“The woman suffered fractured ribs, a closed leg fracture, a pelvis injury and also a spinal injury.
“We treated her and took her to the Gold Coast University Hospital, but at about 1am on Thursday she was transferred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
“She remains there, being treated in the spinal ward.”
The Hangover Crawl general manager Tom Hyde said the woman was not a paying customer, but was believed to have joined the crawl temporarily when it was at one of the bars. The tour finished about 9pm, an hour and a half before the incident.
“She was not a customer. She was a friend of a friend of one of the staff members,” Mr Hyde said.
The bar tour went to Ultra Lounge and later Sin City. The crawl did not visit its final venue, The Bedroom, which was closed out of respect following the fatal stabbing of VIP waitress Mia Ayliffe-Chung at a Home Hill backpackers near Townsville.
Workplace Health and Safety are investigating.
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