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RESIDENTS IN A recently completed Sydney high-rise apartment block that made “cracking noises” on Christmas Eve were moved out again today as engineers work “round the clock” to fix the issue.
Police and emergency services evacuated some 300 people in the 38-storey Opal Tower in the Sydney Olympic Park and other nearby buildings on Monday after reports of “cracking noises”.
The building moved “one to two millimetres” during the incident and authorities said they found a crack on the 10th floor.
Some two-thirds of the units were declared safe to return to Tuesday morning, but 51 others were declared “structurally unsafe”.
The issue threw the Christmas plans of affected residents into disarray, with some telling local media they had to sleep in their cars while waiting to return home.
Others said that even though their apartments were deemed to be safe, they were too afraid to live in them.
Builder Icon defended the tower as “structurally sound”.
“The temporary relocation is a precautionary measure to allow engineers to work around the clock to comprehensively investigate and remediate the site in the quickest time frame possible, without further disruption to residents,” it added in a statement.
Icon added that residents would be provided with accommodation and compensation, and investigators from global engineering firm WSP and its majority owner Japanese construction company Kajima would lead the investigation.
Residents were told at a meeting today it could be up to 10 days before they would be allowed back in the tower, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The New South Wales state government is already conducting an investigation into the building’s structural integrity.
The 392-unit tower opened this year and is near the site of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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well as long as DOB doesn’t get it,
He may be a friend of DOB, some digging needs to be to be done on this,and not the water meter kind.
Guess who does all the UPC installations
Do you have Sky or UPC. Doesn’t make a difference actually becuase they work for both company’s along with the ESB. Does this mean now that you are going to cut off your electricity becuase of the dreaded Dennis O Briens company works for them.
What’s your point Henry? The man has got his fingers stuck in as many pies as possible. He was deemed corrupt by the Moriarty Tribunal. We are entitled to shout “Stop”.
If Liberty want to buy it, it has to be passed by the regulator but if DOB Wants to buy it, it doesn’t ??
Where does it say that it doesn’t have to be passed to the regulator if INM buys it? Surely that would be MORE likely to happen given INM already own such a large array of media outlets?
Where does it say it does have to be passed.
They bought Tv3 for 265m in 2006. 265 million. LoL.
upc has to have the worst customer service I have ever encountered. they might as well just call over and slap you in tbe face. between 9 and 1 and 1 a d 6 of course
I am sure Denis O’Brien will get first shout as is normal when doing business in Ireland.
Anyone but Dob
all assets should be seized from d o Brien, and he should be banned from this country.
Hope this is the case as DOB also has his eyes set on tv3 also reports are saying
It pays to read the whole article before commenting…
“Meanwhile, Independent News and Media (INM), in which billionaire Denis O’Brien is the biggest shareholder, has also been flagged as a possible TV3 buyer after the company said it planned to spend up to €100 million on acquisitions.
However the media company has since described the move as “highly unlikely” and added there hadn’t been any talks between INM and TV3′s owners.”
If INM have €100m to spend and TV3 was worth €265m in 2006, it seems unlikely they’d be able to afford it?
I can proudly say, I don’t watch anything on that awful channel. TV at its absolute worst.
It’s better than utv
Only slightly. Utv Ireland is terrible though.
Denis O Brien already has too much power
John Malone is as bad as DOB! Why the sudden interest in tv3 you may ask? It’s the only tv station that is not run with a hidden agenda and is not controlled by the powers to be! The main reason TV3 is wanted is because of Vincent Browne! He is outspoken has no axe to grind and puts irish politicians through their paces! The rest of the media are just a front for the government and the powers to be to tell the people only what they need to hear and hide the reality of what is really going on! As I said JM and DOB are of the same breed! Nuff said!!
surely DOB shouldn’t be allowed to acquire this … narrowing competition etc.
Did you read the article? INM are not looking to purchase tv3.
I hope Donald Trump buys it, fires Vincent brown an replaces him with a syndication of Glenn Beck’s show.
Vincent Browne is the single best thing about TV3. He’s rare in Irish journalism in that he treats politicians of all parties (and none) in the same manner.
trump tv. it will just be about barac obama and weather he is an american citizen. right wing news glenn beck the guy who tries to legitimise the war on Palestine. no thank you between thegun loving texas ranger and the zionist. jesus they would do your head in give me Vincent Brown any day of the week no hidden agenda.
Dreadful TV station. Either that or the programmes are not aimed at my geographic. Most people I know don’t watch TV anyway. They are all over the Internet. The television era is coming to an end. The golden age has been way behind us for some time now. All things must pass.
Sell it might get soaps in HD
That sentence makes no sense!
TV3? …is that still on – air? ?
have your say