Government of MG says it will hire a company to correct faults in elevators in the Administrative City

The Government of Minas guaranteed that interventions to resolve the failures in elevators in the Administrative City, seat of the state government, will begin in the coming days. This Tuesday (2), Itatiaia had access to a technical report that points out structural problems in the equipment of the Minas and Gerais buildings, where thousands of employees work every day. Since November last year, 22 elevators have been closed in the Minas Building, which has led to a change in the way the state government headquarters operates. Secretariats were relocated and thousands of employees were authorized to work remotely.

In a note, the State Secretariat for Planning and Management (Seplag) informed that it is finalizing the procedures for hiring a company that will be responsible for correcting flaws that compromised the operation of the elevators in the Minas building. The equipment has been deactivated since November last year.

Read more: Report highlights flaws and recommends structural work on elevators in operation in the Administrative City

In the Gerais building, although the inspection report highlighted structural problems and recommended interventions, the Government of Minas guarantees that there is no risk to employees at this time. On site, the elevators must receive reinforcements on the metal pillars “with the aim of avoiding any future compromise in operation”.

Seplag corroborated the assessment of an engineering company, which inspected 54 of the 60 elevators in the Minas and Gerais buildings.

“The report pointed out that, in the construction of the Administrative City, the metal pillars of the elevator counterweights were not anchored according to the project, resulting in an empty space between the reinforced concrete beam and the pillar fixation plates, causing a “pin” effect. Therefore, it is essential to reinforce all the metal pillars of the elevator counterweights in the Minas and Gerais Buildings. The situation would be due, according to the document, to construction defects in the fixing of the elevator support pillars”, says the secretariat, in a statement.

Three engineering companies were consulted by Seplag, based on the inspection report, and presented quotes for carrying out the service. Seplag did not say which of them will be hired, but said that the service follows the rules for waiving emergency bidding.

What the report says

The document, signed by three engineers from the company Vistoriar Engenharia, says that several flaws were found in the structure of the elevators, such as cracks near a metal pillar of the elevator’s counterweight, corrosion at the base of one of the pillars, among other damage.

“During the inspections carried out on all elevators in the Gerais building, we found several non-conformities in the fixing of the metal counterweight pillars with the building beams, which we highlight: lack of support at the base, causing an increase in the overload of the fixing screws on the beams. ; signs of weaknesses in structural elements, stains, color changes, peelings, signs of corrosion, wear, lack of uniformity and empty space between the concrete beam of the building’s structure and the metal pillars of the counterweights”, says another excerpt from the document.

One of the images attached to the report shows the existence of an “empty space” between the metal plate fixing the pillars and the concrete beam, which should not exist, according to the project. Due to errors in construction, the pins that support the structure become “bent”.

The technical report also presents 11 steps necessary to carry out the reinforcement of the metal pillars of the elevator counterweights, which include everything from cleaning metal parts to replacing screws.

Server died

On November 27 last year, a 66-year-old civil servant, who worked at the State Department of Health, which is located in the Minas Building, died while climbing the stairs, on the 13th floor of the building. At the time, the Government of Minas Gerais said that he had a sudden illness and was treated by doctors who work in the department itself, including the secretary, Fábio Bacheretti, but that he did not survive.

At the time, part of the building’s elevators were turned off after faults were detected in the functioning of some equipment.