Previous Story
Outer Cove Marina gangway collapse reveals poor design
The sudden collapse of a gangway at Outer Cove Marina on Wednesday revealed it was lacking in rebar reinforcement, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources Secretary Richard Seman yesterday.
DLRN owns the infrastructure. Seman told Saipan Tribune yesterday that the other gangways may be “condemned.”
“I might have to shut it down and tourists might be displaced,” he said.
An Outer Cove Marina gangway has collapsed from a lack of rebar enforcement, raising questions about the safety of the other gangways at the cove. (Dennis B. Chan)
DLRN staff yesterday morning barricaded its entrance from tourist boats and cut off entrance from land with caution tape.
Seman was shocked that human traffic alone caused the collapse so he called the Department of Public Works yesterday for an assessment and survey.
“Their initial findings were not good. [The gangway] was poorly engineered or built,” he said.
Seman said it was discovered that both beams beneath the gangway lacked rebar.
“It just dropped,” he said.
“The initial assessment by Public Works has them stating that the beam on the gangway where it broke off has no rebar. They will be looking into the building permit for this and see whether the design or engineering was done right but the construction may have been done wrong.”
Seman said DPW’s Technical Service Division, which is headed by Tony Camacho, would make the determination.
“Because the rest were designed the same way, I might be forced to shut down the rest of the gangway and put in immediate repair,” Seman said.
“Based on their survey this morning, all of them were damaged,” he said. The rebar is not where “it’s supposed to be.”
Seman said the cove infrastructure was built by the late Tony Pellegrino who subcontracted Tano Group. He said the gangways were prefabricated.
