From Chapter 2
'A hard half-century'
Concrete
Melbournians became wary of reinforced concrete following the collapse of a six-storied office block on Swanston Street in April 1925. Union officials were at the site within ten minutes, and stayed until 9.30 pm, taking away concrete samples to be analysed by the School of Mines. An organiser accused the contractors, Cockram and Cooper, of the "damnedest scamping".[1] To save money, the firm had used higher proportions of sand to cement. It had also added extra water because a sloppier mix was quicker and easier to work, though it did not set so well. A man had measured the proportion of water from a tap by counting to 20. Three secondary beams had been run into the 12cm lift-well wall without reinforcement. When the beams broke away, the fifth-floor wall collapsed. That failure brought down most of the building. The Coroner identified impure sand, misplaced steel rods and very little ramming as contributing factors.[2]
Major contractors and prominent architects had failed in their duties on one of the largest projects in a metropolis. Because the Coroner concluded that the collapse had resulted from criminal negligence by the architect, the contractor and the clerk of works, he committed them to trial for manslaughter. Each was released on his own surety of £50. When the Crown Law Office withdrew the prosecution late in September, the union spoke of "strings pulled". Branch Secretary Percy Smith feared that Cockram and Cooper would prove to be another "house of straw" to escape financial liability to the families of the men it had murdered or maimed. The union secured ₤250 for one of the injured and some money for a widow.[3]
Within months, the Victorian government set up a Concrete Building Board. This flurry contrasted with its tardiness in legislating for the inspection of scaffolds. The impetus was not the four deaths, which the trade journal Civil Engineering considered no worse than "a regrettable feature".[4] The urgency arose because reinforced concrete was in jeopardy. The Herald declared: "If concrete buildings are liable to collapse in this manner through no human fault, then there must be no concrete buildings."[5] Moreover, such incidents increased the costs of contractors, and threatened damages or prison terms against professionals, while their clients lost money from the delays.
Civil Engineering complained that not all architects were registered, and it called for building inspectors and clerks of works to be trained: "Ordinary workmen cannot be expected to take more than a passing interest in the mixing and placing of concrete and consequently the supervision must be exacting."[6] Four years later, another trade publication put the blame where most of it belonged, alleging that "shoddy" and "sinister" behaviour was commonplace because firms under-estimated their costs to secure contracts.[7] Builders continued to skimp. 'Pop' Shillabeer was "renowned for waving a cement bag in front of a concrete mixer." When Whelans demolished his additions to Scott's Hotel they found that the "concrete was so light-on that the building practically knocked itself down.".[8]