Thu | Mar 28, 2024

PriceSmart parking alarm

Published:Thursday | August 9, 2018 | 12:00 AM

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I ask the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) to review the ongoing construction of a second-floor parking facility at PriceSmart on Red Hills Road.

While I can appreciate the effort to increase the number of available parking spaces, I am very concerned that the structure does not appear to be sufficiently reinforced to support the weight of the concrete flooring and an estimated 200 vehicles.

From an uninformed perspective, the existing roof, which is being overlaid with concrete, is supported by four-inch steel columns spaced approximately 10 feet apart at the edges, and steel girders running laterally, spaced approximately six feet apart.

In 2010, when my wife and I were doing construction of an expanded garage structure at our home, your good office instructed us to add another beam and to use the thicker and stronger 5/8-inch steel instead of the normal 3/8-inch because of the size of the span - 20 feet by 20 feet.

Now, the parking structure at PriceSmart is significantly larger than my garage, and being built to accommodate things much heavier than a solar water heater.

In the interest of public safety, I am imploring the KSAMC to conduct an on-site inspection to verify that the construction is in accordance with the approved plan.

DEAN WIGGAN

dcwiggan@flowja.com