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Leeds woman may sue for being blown over

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I think this is disgusting greed. What do others think?

 

Questions have been asked about the safety of Leeds' tallest building after the death of man who was crushed by a lorry which blew over in strong winds.

 

The accident happened near to the 110m tall (360ft) Bridgewater Place, a building which architecture experts say has created a wind tunnel.

 

The council said there were wind effect issues and they were "looking urgently" at ways of "making the area safer".

 

LINK

 

Same building in both cases.

 

Tim Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, said as part of the original planning application, a wind assessment was carried out on behalf of the developer, which indicated "the impact the building would have on wind speed would be minimal".

 

He added: "However, since the building was completed, there have been unforeseen wind effect issues around it."

 

Mr Riordan said developers and architects were undertaking work with a wind engineering consultancy to identify the "most effective solution to resolve the ongoing issues".

 

"unforeseen wind effect issues". Sounds like there's a definite problem here.

 

And during the most recent windy spell

 

Roads around Bridgewater Place to be closed due to wind

 

Roads around Leeds' tallest building will be closed due to winds forecast to reach 75mph, just two days after a coroner said action needed to be taken.

 

Dr Edward Slaney was crushed by a lorry that toppled over next to 32-storey Bridgewater Place in 2011.

 

Coroner Melanie Williamson said the junction should be closed to all users when gusts reached about 45mph.

 

LINK

 

Apologies for spoiling anyone's knee jerk rantings, I now return you to your regular, fact-free thread.

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On the day concerned the high winds had been forecast, and the coroner a day or two before had said the road should be closed in such conditions. The council banned cars and lorries but not pedestrians. In the case the coroner was hearing, the wind had actually picked up a lorry and dumped it on the unfortunate pedestrian. If the council knew it was capable of doing that, what did they think it could do to a human being?

She's right to sue either the council or the building owners, or both.

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There is no such thing as ' an act of God ' insurance companies used this phrase in the past to wriggle out of paying but nowadays they can't.

 

Well that's completely wrong.

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you can't predict the wind.

 

Really, you should tell the weather forecasters then, because they'd predicted gale force winds on the day in question.

 

And then you should tell the people who do fluid dynamics modelling, because they have a job predicting the flow of fluids and gases...

 

This particular building is known to create a dangerous situation, legally the building owners are obliged to do something about it, or face being sued when it injures people.

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As others have said, it is known by the council and building owner there are problems with wind as a result of the building's position/design. A coroner condemned the area recently and suggested the surrounding roads should be closed on windy days. The council, I believe, complied with this request however they did not close surrounding paths to pedestrians and as a result, this woman sustained her injuries.

 

It's not a simple case of someone getting blown over. There are mitigating circumstances and as such, this woman has every right to seek damages, in my opinion.

 

Never heard of anything so daft in all my life!

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Never heard of anything so daft in all my life!

 

Good job you are not in a position to impose your dismissive comments, eh ;)

 

I guess if that was your mother or someone close to you, you would feel the same.

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Never heard of anything so daft in all my life!

 

Why? It's an hazard that they have acknowledge exists yet have done nothing to mitigate against.

 

jb

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Walkin' in the Wind: People blown over in streets

 

 

That`s a strong wind.

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I think it's pathetic. How come it was just her that got hurt and nobody else? She's got no chance

 

Isn't this the same building that a guy got squished under a lorry last year (due to high winds)

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you can't predict the wind.

 

It's Michael Fish.

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She is right to sue. A coroner recently ruled, in the inquest of Dr Edward Slaney, that the road around Bridgewater Place in Leeds should be shut when the wind is forecast to be 45 mph of above. This is because Dr Slaney was killed by a "floating" lorry which had taken off in the high winds generated, in part, by the shape of Bridgewater Place.

 

The offending building is shaped almost like an aeroplane tail fin and can cause unbelivabley high gusts of wind. The problem is that the road which has to be closed is the main route into the city from the M621 so this is clearly an unsustainable solution.

 

The building is, I think, fully occupied and will cause immense disruption should it have to be torn down/reshaped. There is an interim solution being discussed, which involves large girders being erected in order to break the wind up, but how successful this will be remains to be seen.

 

I am not sure if wind effects are be a matter for architects to consider but if they are then surely there should be some liability on the part of the designers of the building as the situation is a complete shambles.

 

There is much more to this story than "Woman sues God."

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She is right to sue. A coroner recently ruled, in the inquest of Dr Edward Slaney, that the road around Bridgewater Place in Leeds should be shut when the wind is forecast to be 45 mph of above. This is because Dr Slaney was killed by a "floating" lorry which had taken off in the high winds generated, in part, by the shape of Bridgewater Place.

 

The offending building is shaped almost like an aeroplane tail fin and can cause unbelivabley high gusts of wind. The problem is that the road which has to be closed is the main route into the city from the M621 so this is clearly an unsustainable solution.

 

The building is, I think, fully occupied and will cause immense disruption should it have to be torn down/reshaped. There is an interim solution being discussed, which involves large girders being erected in order to break the wind up, but how successful this will be remains to be seen.

 

I am not sure if wind effects are be a matter for architects to consider but if they are then surely there should be some liability on the part of the designers of the building as the situation is a complete shambles.

 

There is much more to this story than "Woman sues God."

 

I would expect that the designers will have been required to undertake physical modelling of the effects of winds around such a large structure, or employ a specialist to do the same, to determine the effects of winds from any direction. I expect the designers are checking their professional indemnity insurance as we speak.

 

If the design was done without due diligence, ie if the designers didn't do their jobs professionally, as would be expected of competent and experienced Engineer, then there could even be criminal charges on the back of serious incidents like these. Although the fact that there haven't been any charges would indicate that there is no suggestion of lack of due diligence in this case.

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