Stitching problem delays Parliamentary building

by John Leitch



The £250 million new Parliamentary building has been hit by a concrete stitching problem which has extended delays, leaving the project running 18 weeks behind schedule after only nine months on site.

Elements of the arches around the building's courtyard are held together structurally by concrete stitching joints. So far, five of these stitches have fallen well short of the required strength and have had to be cut out and recast.

The concreting work is being done by specialist contractor Ray O'Rourke using ready mix concrete supplied by Pioneer.

Tests made after seven and 28 days have shown that the concrete strength of the stitching was "considerably lower" than the required figure of 50N/mm2 at 28 days. "It came as a big surprise," said project sponsor Andrew Makepeace. "We are having to cut the concrete out of five stitches. Four have now been done and we are working on the fifth. The areas are then recast - three have been done so far."

Asked if the problem would be adding to the cost, Makepeace said: "That depends where liability lies in due course. The concern now is to get the practical issues sorted out. All those concerned are talking to each other, they have not fallen out."

Bob Taylor, regional manager with Pioneer, issued a statement saying: "The concrete supplied for this contract was to a high specification and subject to rigorous test procedures. We are co-operating with the technical evaluation of the situation and we continue to supply material to the contract." A spokesman for O'Rourke declined to comment.

The concrete problems have added three weeks to the high-profile project which was already 15 weeks late as a result of problems in fitting elements of the first and second-floor structure. Produced off-site, these elements have had to be cut, modified and additional reinforcing bars introduced to make them fit.

Sir Sydney Chapman, Conservative MP, chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee, has called for a complete review of the building's construction process. "I'm extremely concerned," he said on Monday. "We're just nine months into the operation and we're already behind. We're banging heads together. The background position is that we always recognised that the building would have difficulties."

Syd Rapson, Labour MP and a member of the A&W Committee, said: "The stitching is a worry. It would indicate that they haven't resolved the problem. There is concern in my mind over completing the building."

Rapson said the contingency in time overruns to allow for hidden faults was "twice what we're used to," but added that "the contingency is being eaten away." He said other members of the committee were as concerned as he was over the slow rate of progress.