Design engineers warned of 'concern' over Holyrood changes

Published on Sunday 5 March 2006 00:32

CONSTRUCTION chiefs at the Scottish Parliament building were warned six years ago that beams in the building's roof were a major "concern" following last-minute alterations, made to make the chamber look more attractive.

Documents handed to the Holyrood inquiry reveal a two-year tug-of-war between engineers, architects and builders over the roof, and specifically the 60 enormous timber trusses which span the cavernous chamber.

The Parliament is still in limbo this weekend after one of the beams sprang loose from its socket on Thursday, dangling precariously over the heads of MSPs below. Engineers are working throughout the weekend to remedy the problem but Parliament chiefs are already making arrangements for MSPs to sit elsewhere this week, piling on the embarrassment.

The documents show how the roof's engineers, Ove Arup, became increasingly concerned about its structure from 2000 to 2002 as they discovered that alterations were being made to their original plans.

In one letter to the Parliament's architects, RMJM, dated November 30, 2000, Ove Arup director David Lewis explicitly writes of his worries over changes to the "nodes" in the roof - the 112 metal sockets in which the beams are held.

"There are two issues regarding the design of the debating chamber which are concerning me greatly," he wrote. "They are the design of the nodes for the roof trusses and the mast sizes."

He added: "We have been discussing information for several weeks with you now, attempting to find solutions which satisfy the structural and aesthetic requirements of the design. Clearly there have been, and still are, considerable conflicts here with your difficulty in accepting the necessary structural dimensions to enable the members and sections to work."

Giving evidence to the Holyrood inquiry two years ago, Lewis said these issues had been "resolved" as they went along.

However, two years later, the documentation shows that the architects and engineers were still in conflict over changes to the roof the architects wanted to make in order to add to its aesthetic appeal.

There is no evidence yet as to the cause of last week's events, with theories yesterday even suggesting the wooden beams may have shrunk since being installed.

Engineers from the company working on the building are expected to issue a report tomorrow to the Presiding Officer on the reasons for the collapse.