'We raised the issue several years ago ...you can't wait for people to get hurt'

THE crumbling concrete crisis escalated yesterday with fears hospitals, police stations and prisons could be at risk of collapse

- Martyn Brown

 

THE crumbling concrete crisis escalated yesterday with fears hospitals, police stations and prisons could be at risk of collapse.

Experts raised the alarm after more than 100 schools were ordered to close buildings.

They described the situation as a "ticking time bomb" that was highlighted as long ago as 1995, but has been ignored by successive governments. The affected buildings contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a lightweight construction material used until the mid-1990s.

Experts have warned that thousands of public buildings could be at risk of collapse due to the problem.

Courts, libraries and high-rise buildings may all be affected with repair costs running into billions of pounds.

Such is the widespread use of RAAC it is feared the number of schools affected could rise to 1,000.

And the crisis could mean children end up being taught in temporary buildings for as long as a decade, it is claimed. Matt Byatt, president of the Institution of Structural Engineers, said that any high-rise buildings with flat roofs constructed between the late 1960s and early 1990s may contain the building material.

He said expert bodies had warned government departments about the dangers of the material in 2018, adding that "everyone was aware" of the problem.

Mr Byatt said: "RAAC has been found in schools, there was a massive thing about it in hospitals and there was a courthouse shut down last week. They are beyond their serviceable life. We raised the issue several years ago.