COLAPSO DO EDIFÍCIO WILTON PAES DE ALMEIDA – SP: LIÇÕES APRENDIDAS

The premature collapse of Wilton Paes de Almeida, a reinforced concrete building designed and built in the 60's, surprised concrete structures engineers. It happened in just about 80minutes of fire. Previous fires, such as that of Andraus Building, Joelma and Great Avenue, built in the same decade, withstood more than 4 hours of fire without collapsing and are currently in use. Buildings can not collapse in such a short space of time because they prevent the escape and the work of firefighters, putting an entire neighborhood at risk. To understand the reasons for this unusual collapse, an experimental investigation of the characteristics and properties of concrete and reinforcement employed in this structure was carried out carefully. Based on a "hypothetical structural design" that considered the actual characteristics of the materials used, it was possible to draw a diagnosis that explains the mechanism of rupture of the building. Based on this diagnosis, recommendations were made so that cases such as this do not recur.