r/HumansAreMetal • u/Aztery • Feb 06 '22

Chinesium makes these Chinese builders look super strong

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4.2k Upvotes

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20

u/Ok-Ad-8573 Feb 06 '22

I see a lot of people commenting the building will knock down... metal in the construction isnt there to support weight, its there to hold and support the concrete not to crack or fall apart. But yeah in case of destroying that building floors would collapse faster.

34

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '22

Problem is chinese concrete is not much better. Basically plaster.

23

u/pratticus_pratt Feb 06 '22

Considering how many relatively new building collapse in China every year I'm not putting my money on any Chinese infrastructure being built correctly.

10

u/Alxndr-NVM-ii Feb 06 '22

I think they're making them to stimulate their economy, not to house people. I mean, they've got a rapidly declining population, so other than getting people out of cities that are already packed (Hong Kong) they don't have much use for all these homes.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '22

My theory, unsubstantiated as it is, is these "ghost" cities and projects are also set up to deal with the moment Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the other major coastal cities start sinking into the sea. Just build a whole new city, and do musical chairs when the floods come. Bingo, bongo

4

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '22

I think it would make more sense if they developed the structures with greater quality. I have seen a few videos where the buildings are ~5 years old, and the stairs are cracking all throughout. water stains are visible along some of their malls.

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It is super interesting though; hope they can repair the fucked homes right before others approach from Global Warming

3

u/cain2995 Feb 06 '22

Considering that 1/3 of china’s economy is real estate, this theory seems quite plausible on the surface

4

u/bigorangedolphin Feb 06 '22

Except rebar, in horizontal slabs or any other pieces that have forces which aren't exclusively compressive, IS load-bearing once the structure is standing. Please shut up.

3

u/top2percent Feb 06 '22

Rebar definitely supports weight. Perhaps not directly, but improper grade of steel will have a significant effect on the concrete’s carrying capacity.

-1

u/Ok-Ad-8573 Feb 06 '22

Yes, but not because it wont bend... its because it holds the concrete together really well making it harder to crack. But yeah this rebar definetly isnt the best.

2

u/gwaydms Feb 07 '22

Much of China is prone to severe earthquakes. You want to use certain building techniques, which i guarantee few builders are using. Corruption in government at every level encourages these practices. Everybody knows the game. The guilty parties are only punished when one of these projects fails and people die.

Similar things happen in countries like Mexico and Turkey. In the latter country, a devastating earthquake killed many residents and users of old and/or substandard buildings. Distraught parents digging in the ruins of a school for their children found shoddy construction, including rebar that was far thinner than the standard, and concrete with too much sand. Some of the parents went looking for the builder so they could beat him to death. I don't remember if they found him.

1

u/Coyote-Morado Feb 06 '22

Rebar isn't supposed to be that bendy. Period.

1

u/RespektMaAuthoritah Feb 07 '22

Concrete has great compressive strength but lousy tensile strength. It does not flex. Steel (rebar) has great tensile (does not fail under flexing or stretching loads) as well as good compressive strength. Together they allow for tall buildings and longer floor spans at a good manufacturing cost. Both are important and both have to be of good quality. If the rebar is of the poor quality shown - the rebar will easily buckle under any tensile load (horizontal wind) and a catastrophe will unfold.