On January 9, 2021, during the heavy snowfall that occurred in Madrid, there was a partial collapse of the steel roof of the warehouse of the Maritime Experimentation Laboratory of the Center for the Study of Ports and Coasts (CEPYC) of the CEDEX – Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, located at 81 Antonio López Street, Madrid.
The warehouse, built at the end of the 1970s, is 115 m long and 71 m wide without any type of intermediate support. The steel structure of the roof was made up of three simply supported families of Warren-type trusses:
– Two large 115 m long trusses, which support the entire roof and which are the ones that failed in three tensioned diagonals from its 4 ends.
– Families of secondary transverse trusses perpendicular to the main ones, supported on these and on the façade walls.
– Family of trusses supported on the secondary trusses, in the longitudinal direction of the warehouse, plus profiles to support the roof panels.
Hanging from this structure there was an intermediate level of steel walkways with also very isostatic configurations.
The accident left the entire structure in a very unstable situation, with a serious risk of total collapse. CEDEX immediately contacted IDEAM SA to propose an emergency actuation that would allow the damaged roof to be propped and secured, to protect CEDEX’s facilities and valuable equipment, and the subsequent sequential dismantling of the structure, avoiding any fall into the interior of the warehouse, always prioritizing the safety of the workers.
Once a first inspection was carried out from the outside, the viewing of the videos recorded with drones and a quick analysis of the available documentation, a strategy was established focused on defining the actions that would prevent the generalized collapse of the structure.
All the actions of the propping of the roof and the subsequent phases of the controlled disassembly were carried out with large cranes, always working from outside the warehouse, minimizing the risk of the workers to the maximum.
IDEAM SA has designed the entire propping and securing system for the warehouse, as well as all the phases of the highly complex sequential and controlled dismantling process of each element of the damaged roof, and has carried out the works of Control and Management of the Works, which has been carried out by the construction company Dragados SA, counting on GRUAS USABIAGA SA for all the means of elevation.
At present practically the entire steel roof has already been removed without any type of incident and only the controlled demolition of the reinforced concrete frame at the end of the warehouse and the removal of its bracing elements remains.
