14 October 2010

Earth moves for DEEWR?

| johnboy
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[First filed: Oct 14, 2010 @ 11:07]

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This afternoon some people in 50 Marcus Clarke Street have experienced some movement on each floor in the building.

The safety and comfort of staff is paramount and we have moved quickly to respond to the situation. Representatives from Walkers (the building owners) and Leighton Contractors (the company that constructed the building) are on site with structural engineers who are assessing the building. This is being treated as a matter of urgency. At this stage there is no cause for alarm and as information from the engineers becomes available further advice will be provided.

Apparently the above was sent out yesterday to denizens of the troubled DEEWR building on Marcus Clarke St.

You might remember this site had a major collapse during construction.

If I worked at 50 Marcus Clarke St

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UPDATE: Word reaches us that the cause of the ruckus was, in all seriousness, a zumba class on the 12th floor that got the building joining in.

Further Update: Zumba is innocent! The following comment casts doubt on the Zumba explanation and raises serious concerns for the safety of those inside the massive building:

#27 Cidaemon
(Newbie)
18:40, 14 Oct 10

My wife teaches the supposed Zumba class that caused the shaking – but the reports of the shaking and the times of the class don’t line up at all.

A few women doing knee lifts on the 12th floor shouldn’t be felt through an entire building.

We just stayed on the 33rd floor of a hotel in Surfer’s…
More than knee lifting going on – and no-one seemed to notice

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Well if they get some noise, it makes up for what the people in the building next door had to put up with while it was being built – think high pitched skreetching and pounding while they dug the foundations.

Allegedly the shaking started again during a subsequent Zumba class a few days after the incident on the 14th – class terminated, banned – no more shaking. We’ll see.

Gungahlin Al10:41 pm 18 Oct 10

smee said :

Gungahlin Al said :

During happy hour drinks Thursday arvo about 5.30 there was a big explosion sound from outside/near/in the building.

I was in the Wig & Pen at the time and heard the bang too. It was the rear left tyre on a bus at the stop across the road. Massive bang it was, and it shredded the tyre leaving a gaping hole in the sidewall.

Thanks for clarifying that mystery

Gungahlin Al said :

Guess the engineers would put it down to everyone throwing down their losing raffle tickets at once.

ahaha or a guy on the 5th floor farted.

Should have been FOUR lanes in the first place.

Were these the same builders who built Bunda Street, which has been closed all afternoon/evening and won’t reopen until tomorrow morning due to a gigantic pothole?

harryhaller said :

It’s funny, considering how upset the Australians got with them Indians who apparently couldn’t build a bridge. 🙂

Was it Indians building the GDEDWSHBTLINFP??

? [Gungahlin Drive Extension Duplication which should have been two lanes in the first place]

Gungahlin Al said :

During happy hour drinks Thursday arvo about 5.30 there was a big explosion sound from outside/near/in the building.

I was in the Wig & Pen at the time and heard the bang too. It was the rear left tyre on a bus at the stop across the road. Massive bang it was, and it shredded the tyre leaving a gaping hole in the sidewall.

It’s funny, considering how upset the Australians got with them Indians who apparently couldn’t build a bridge. 🙂

Cidaemon said :

My wife teaches the supposed Zumba class that caused the shaking – but the reports of the shaking and the times of the class don’t line up at all.

A few women doing knee lifts on the 12th floor shouldn’t be felt through an entire building.

We just stayed on the 33rd floor of a hotel in Surfer’s…
More than knee lifting going on – and no-one seemed to notice.

Dude, you are going to be in so much trouble when you wife finds out that you aired your dirty laundry on here.

It’s just settling due to the heavier than normal rain over the past months.

It has nothing to do with the zumba-reptoid hive expansion under the basement. Cidaemon’s wife knows what I’m talking about…

Gungahlin Al8:13 am 15 Oct 10

During happy hour drinks Thursday arvo about 5.30 there was a big explosion sound from outside/near/in the building. There were maybe 60 people on the balcony area and inside and everyone was shocked by the noise. The windows shook. This was no backfire or similar. It was how I’d imagine a car bomb to have sounded. Or a big salute from Duntroon. Except it was in Civic. People down at the bus stop were looking up so I presume they heard it too. The security guards in the lobby were talking about it afterwards too. But no idea what it was.

Guess the engineers would put it down to everyone throwing down their losing raffle tickets at once.

Dave F said :

>The Silverson Centre was right there nearby wasn%u2019t it %u2013 11 Moore St ???? [corner of Rudd & Moore St]

Was that the building that settled and they had to knock it down and start again?

Yes – Was still very new when some part of it moved and, if I recall it correctly, the floors developed cracks around the inner perimeter. The occupants went home on a Friday and were not allowed in on Monday!

Occupants were DASSET (Admin Services, Sport, Environment and Tourism (?)) and ANAO.

This led to ANAO signing the Centenary House lease that was the subject of at least one formal inquiry (the Labor Party owns it and the rent was a little bit ‘top of the market’. Of course this was said by the Audit Office to be everyone elses fault (soliciters, Admin Services, real estate people, etc) but not theirs.

The Silverton site was just a hole in the ground for quite some years before being built on again.

It’s strange what I recall on this as I didn’t work there or anywhere nearby and had no involvement whatsoever!

I was on lvl 11 at the time, the further update stacks up as the shakes happened over a period of 2-3 hours (hopefully for the Zumba participants the class wasnt that long)

>The Silverson Centre was right there nearby wasn%u2019t it %u2013 11 Moore St ???? [corner of Rudd & Moore St]

Was that the building that settled and they had to knock it down and start again?

wasn’t this the same building, when being constructed, had a few floors collapse as the concrete was being poured?? ermmmmm

Cidaemon said :

My wife teaches the supposed Zumba class that caused the shaking – but the reports of the shaking and the times of the class don’t line up at all.

Correction: The movement happened again today and it didn’t line up with the classes.
Yesterday there was some overlap apparently.

Hells_Bells747:15 pm 14 Oct 10

It’s just getting funnier in here, Zumba classes, well blow me! Something may’ve worked off the telly, rare to say the least.

What happens when everyone gets resistant to it?

Will it be ground level only legislation for future classes, just incase more are high on the richter scale?

Or was it just Canberra’s notorious strange era of public works?

The mind boggles!

My wife teaches the supposed Zumba class that caused the shaking – but the reports of the shaking and the times of the class don’t line up at all.

A few women doing knee lifts on the 12th floor shouldn’t be felt through an entire building.

We just stayed on the 33rd floor of a hotel in Surfer’s…
More than knee lifting going on – and no-one seemed to notice.

Amanda Hugankis said :

“Dey all sed ‘where did you get dose abs’ an I sed ‘Zumba!'”.

Hehe, nothing like late night TV!

i call BS on the zumba explanation. Unless the building is made up of jenga pieces.

Zumba? For f*&k sake?

They’ll need a “Dealing with workplace stress” workshop after this. This would not be a problem if the did any real work!

If Australian only knew how their taxpayer monies were being spent!

Amanda Hugankis4:48 pm 14 Oct 10

“Dey all sed ‘where did you get dose abs’ an I sed ‘Zumba!'”.

Waiting For Godot4:37 pm 14 Oct 10

A zumba class? Probably the only form of work that’s ever taken place there.

The Silverson Centre was right there nearby wasn’t it – 11 Moore St ???? [corner of Rudd & Moore St]

Hells_Bells744:00 pm 14 Oct 10

*swish even

Hells_Bells743:59 pm 14 Oct 10

Was behind a mother and daughter at a Woolies checkout today that were all zumba’d suited up, admittedly they had good bodies and a nice sexy swash to their movements. But I really wanted to ask them if they knew anything about what happened at the DEEWR building..

I should’ve hey and then asked them what were thinking.

Don’t ask me why anyone buys crap off the telly for. Gosh, there is still one born every minute!

James-T-Kirk3:46 pm 14 Oct 10

I heard that the cause for the building shaking happened in one of the photocopying rooms…..

Woody Mann-Caruso3:37 pm 14 Oct 10

Silverton, oh Silverton, I still hear your sea winds blowin%u2019

*This close* to getting rid of all (well, most of) the auditors in one hit.

Silverton, oh Silverton, I still hear your sea winds blowin’
I still see her dark eyes glowin’
She was 21 when I left Silverton

Silverton, oh Silverton, I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Silverton

(mildly amusing if you were in canberra around 1989)

Gungahlin Al2:38 pm 14 Oct 10

“Sumo zumba” – that got people laughing here.

Gungahlin Al2:35 pm 14 Oct 10

So a building the size of almost a whole block can be set swinging by 25 people doing a Zumba class? Forget the flexibility of the fitness class, this must be a seriously flexible building…

Perhaps we should have some fun by going up the top floor and all rocking in unison and see what happens? 🙂

Hey I never said I believed it!

So, bunch of people jump up and down and the whole building shudders? Must have been some sumo zumba? What is zumba anyway?…

schmeah said :

Hot off the Press!

The engineer report is in! Apparently, DEEWR’s luncht time Zumba class is very energetic. Nothing to see here people, just a bunch of fitness crazies shaking all 12 floors!

Nothing quite like recycling someones elses joke hey!!!

Hot off the Press!

The engineer report is in! Apparently, DEEWR’s luncht time Zumba class is very energetic. Nothing to see here people, just a bunch of fitness crazies shaking all 12 floors!

What’s DEEWR policy for leaking staff notices to the media?

Apparently it was a zumba class

colourful sydney racing identity said :

isn’t that the buiding where the floor collapsed whilst being built a couple of years back?

That would be why I linked to that story!

colourful sydney racing identity1:39 pm 14 Oct 10

isn’t that the buiding where the floor collapsed whilst being built a couple of years back?

‘some’ staff and ‘some’ tremors – what they really mean to say is – a lot of staff and some very noticible tremors.

Who wants to bet DEEWR finally has its long overdue emergency evacuation test sometime soon.

Gungahlin Al12:16 pm 14 Oct 10

I so didn’t read that email properly. Thought it was about lift or door access problems…
Didn’t feel anything down here on the lower floors. But have heard now of people watching glasses on their desks slop around.
Could be a T-Rex?

troll-sniffer12:13 pm 14 Oct 10

I’ll be first. Were there staff engaged in ‘christening’ the building inside?

And if the earth moved for some, what about the others?

Wait…so each floor of the building moved, but nobody was evacuated while they tried to figure out whether it was anything to be worried about?

Oh dear…………….I’ve just sent out a wide text to family to keep away from that building (well, the ones I like anyway).

It isn’t in the way of the proposed bike path loop is it….???

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